


A tale of Rose, Doll and Empty Man

by chocolate_crisps



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Comedy, Eventual Romance, F/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tragedy, pandora hearts au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-07
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-01-10 08:21:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 24,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12295176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chocolate_crisps/pseuds/chocolate_crisps
Summary: Naegi Makoto is an ordinary boy, as long as being a son of a noble can guarantee this. He spend most of his time playing around with his little sister and maid. The only stories that he take interest in are the ones he's telling his sister. It may sound strange but in their kingdom everyone knows a lullaby about Chains - demons who can destroy everything in their sight, and Abyss - a dark place where sinners are send. Everything changes when during his Coming of Age ceremony a group of people that looks like Death reappears in a crimson robes send him to the Abyss saying only:"Your sin is your very existence."Thanks to help of mysterious girl that claims to be the strongest Chain of the Abyss - The Doll of the Bloody Roses - named simply Kyoko and a bunch of friends he tries to find the reason behind this circumstances as well as help Kyoko who has her own business in the human world.But where will lead him this bitter sweet tale?(This story is an au for Pandora Hearts but you don't have to know a thing to understand this story)





	1. Down the rabbit hole

_Hey…Have you ever heard about_ **_the Abyss_ ** _?_

_No? Wait, isn’t that a place from a children's fairy tale? The one that is said to be devoured by the never ending darkness and where all the Chains takes their beginning?_

_Yes, the one and the same._

_Why do you ask about such an awful thing?_

_That’s true – the darkness in there is said to devour everything. But you know what – just because it is said that this place is engulfed in darkness does in no way mean that there was never any light in it…_

„Big brother!” a little girl around age of six dressed in a knee-length brown dress with a white sash around her waist, called after the boy that was running behind her. Her greenish brown hair danced around her head as she turned head to look at him. “Hurry up!”

“Komaru, slow down.” Called after her the brown haired boy, despite having difficulty breathing after chasing her “We can’t spend too much time outside! Remember?” he stopped to catch his breath. His sister used this opportunity to climb at the stone balustrade that abuted their garden from mansion’s terrace. “I have to get ready for this evening ceremony.”

“I know! You’ll be marked as the adult tonight.” She sat down on the railing and let her legs waving freely in the air, not afraid about the fact that she was almost two meters above the ground. “From now on you would take part in a social meetings, be allowed to throw balls, meet queen and wear a long pants.” She pointed with her eyes at his shorts and knee-length socks. “You won’t have time to play with me anymore.”

“Of course I will!” He took some steps forward and petted her head. “You’re my little sister! Just because father will give me more duties to perform, doesn’t mean I will forget about you!”

“You promise?”

“Yes, I solemnly promise you that.”

“I love you Big brother!” as the little girl shouted she wrapped her arms around her brother’s neck.

“Look out or we’ll both fall.” Boy warned her and leaned a bit back, taking a look at the vast garden beneath him. “I must admit – father has chosen the best place for the ceremony.”

The wonderful garden with a green spreading to every corner of the surrounding mansion walls, decorated here and there by a white, yellow, pink and orange flowers. The ivy was climbing up on the walls as if it wanted to touch the sky above, with a few germs of the grapes visible if you looked close enough.  Pathway that led to a lake and a white arbour overgrown by a pink roses, was made from a brown and pink grit with a white bricks at the both side of the alley. At the left of the lake the lonely weeping willow looked at its reflection on the surface of the water, like a girl that admired her hair in the mirror. The only thing that was disturbing the stillness of this tiny world were white butterflies.

“Young lady! Young master!” a new voice called from behind them. As they turned around their eyes laid on a figure of girl, a bit younger than the boy, who was working at their mansion as a maid.

“Asahina-san! How did you found us?!” asked boy with a guilty smile.

“I have a long term experience with my younger brother!” she explained crossing her arms with a pout. “And I think your father – The Great Lord Naegi - advised you to not sympathize with the servants…”

“According to my etiquette teacher - it would be bad if I stopped speaking politely.” he said as if it was the most simple and obvious thing in the world.

„Hmm, so that’s how it is…Well! We need you to come back to your room.” She put her hands on hips and her face looked just like one of a concerned mother. “You have to prepare for your Coming of Age Ceremony, Naegi.”

“Already?” boy looked at his little girl still sitting on the stone railing. “Sorry Komaru, I think the playtime is over.”

“Uhmm” hummed unamused girl looking at him with big, puppy eyes.

“Don’t make that face. Tomorrow we can start over.” The wind that came from the other side of the wall ruffled their hair a bit, gaining the anger of the maid for destroying her bun. The other thing it also did achieved was showing a lavender roses - until this moment hidden behind a willow. Thanks to a wind their heads pipped over the bole like a curious children.

“Look! Over there! I’ve never seen a roses like this!” boy pointed with his finger at the side of the willow in the direction of newly discovered flowers.

“What roses?” the little girl squeezed her eyes, trying to find the flowers in question.

“I’ll bring you one.” As the boy exclaimed it, he run towards the stairs on his right and quickly down them.

“Naegi!” the maid shouted after him, leaning her upper part of the body over the stone railing of the terrace.

“I’ll be right back! It will only take a while!” he yelled back as his feet proceeded forward, making the grit under them crunch.

“Geez, why you must be so problematic!” and with this words the maid jumped down from her side of the balustrade, situated 1,5 meters above the ground. “Come back here!”

In no time she caught up to him. The exact moment he lazily started to pick up the lavender roses she already stood next to him. But when she decided to move her hand to pick him up by the collar – the ground under them collapsed. It was as fast as blinking of an eye. The one moment the gentle sun was shining at them through the willow twigs, the next they laid on a hard ground at least three meters below. They only had enough time to scream with a shock but neither of them created a worthy sentence.

“Auch!” boy winced as his body hit the ground “Are you alright, Asahina-san?”

“Yeah, somehow…” the girl next to him slowly sat up. Her dress was now covered in a mud.

“Where are we?” the boy also sat up and looked at his surroundings. Nothing besides brown soil, dust and roots.

“Big brother?! Hina-nee?!” the worried face of the little girl shown itself above the hole.

“Komaru! Don’t come down!” boy yelled to warn his little sister. “We’ll climb back in a minute!”

“Listen to your brother Komaru-chan!”

“...Okay.”

“I need to inform a gardener about this later…” mumbled under her nose maid.

The boy again looked at his surroundings in hope of finding any possible way out, when his eyes laid at the bunch of a tangled roots.

“This must be the place from where the roses had grown. We might climb up by them.”

“Don’t you think it’s a bit strange?” Pondered maid as she pulled one of it. “Roses doesn’t have a roots like this.”

“Maybe it’s from the willow?” said boy with a tilt of his head.

“No, they definitely come from this shrubs of roses.”

“Maybe it’s some sort of a hybrid from another country?” answered the boy as he started to pull roots himself. As he did it, he spotted something between the roots. Something a bit rusty, but definitely made of metal.

“Look Asahina-san, what do you think it is?”

“Mhmm…some sort of a grave maybe? It has a shape of a cross but maybe it’s part of a statue?” she moved closer to him. “There could have been a name on it but it disappeared. It must be very old. It kinda gives me chills, I hope there aren’t any ghost nearby. I’m sorry ghosts of this place for disturbing your peace!”

“Asahina-san, ghosts doesn't exist.”

“How could you be so sure?! Oh, something shining here!” the girl pointed at the feet of the cross, where mysterious object shone reflecting the light of a sun and creating a little rainbows.

“What it may be?” boy pulled the object out of the roots. It was tiny, maybe the size of his little finger at most, and cylindrical, with a silver chain attached at one side. After getting off most of the mud and dust, the object presented itself as a transparent bottle with something lavender inside. After closer observation the object inside a bottle revealed itself to be…

“A lavender colored rose?”

_Bum bum bum_

The exact moment his eyes laid on the rose, he felt the sharp pull in his chest. As if some kind of a animal was desperately trying to run away from there. But this wasn’t the worst thing. Within less than a blinking of an eye, the area around him changed. There wasn’t a soil, hole, sun or even his maid by his side. This time, he was in some kind of a room that could belong to a young daughter of a noble. A little tea table with a two chairs and made out of porcelain pot and cups that waited for a tea party. A mirror with sculpted roses on it’s frame, surrounded by a bunch of ribbons and boxes with a jewelry. Around a walls - shelves packed with books, dolls and plushy toys.

“He’s back!” something yelled inside a room. When the boy turned around to find the source, he didn’t found a living soul.

“He’s back!”

“She will be happy!”

“Little Lady will be happy!”

He finally realized what was the source of the sound. Toys. The same toys that were sitting on a shelves now started to move and - what’s worse - float in the air, like a fishes inside water. Some that were more braver than the others came closer to his side and pulled him by a hair or a fabric of clothes. Their amount made the room around him almost impossible to see. They surrounded him like a herd of bees.

“Guys, please stop.” The new voice, a girly one, reached his ears. “You’ll scare him more than it’s needed.”

He turned his head back to see a girl around his age in a long, light-purple dress and lavender hair that reached her waist with a single braid on the left side, standing in the frame were normally would be doors. A long shadow covered her face, making her facial structure unreadable.  A calm smile lingered on her lips, one of this that could mean so many and so little at the same time. Her skin, also unbearably porcelain-white like, was giving her an appearance of the ghost.

“Wh-Who are you? And what is this place?” the boy asked with a tremble. One of the doll, the one that had a navy hair and big, blue orbs for eyes, was hugging his shoulder with her tiny porcelain hands. Plushie bunny pulled by a string on her back and the melody from installed inside doll music box filled room.

_“Everytime you kissed me; I trembled like a child; Gathering the roses; We sang for the hope. Your very voice is in my heartbeat; sweeter than my dreams. We were there; in everlasting bloom...”_

The doll's mouth started to move, as if imitating singing. A square part of face under the upper lip rhythmically moved up and down with clicks.

“Don’t you recognize this place?” she asked as she pointed around with her hands covered in white gloves. “You had so much fun here at one point. _We_ also had.”

And just like that, in the next moment her hands were on his neck - with a thumbs pressing on a windpipe.

“I’ll kill you.” She whispered into his ear “I’ll get rid of the abomination that you are. That you became!”

The shadow still covered her face, making her eyes invisible but it didn’t mattered. What mattered was the fact that regardless how hard he would pull at her hands the pressure on his neck wouldn’t  decrease. At some point a black spots started to dance behind his eyes.

“…egi! Naegi!” the voice of his maid pulled him out of the strange dream. “Everything alright?” she asked with a worry.

“Hmm? Yes? Why do you ask?”

“You kinda…dozed off? I was worried. Is this bottle so interesting?” she looked over his shoulder at his hand where the necklace lied.

“…I don’t know, but looking at this makes me…nostalgic? Like it came back after the long separation.”

“What? Now that’s stupid!” she rolled her blue eyes “It was here for, God knows, how long! There’s no way you’ve seen it before!”

“Yeah, you’re right.” He agreed with her as he pulled his head through a chain of the necklace. “There is no way that I’ve seen it before.”

And concluding this - both of them started to climb back using roots as a steps of ladder. The maid was back on the solid ground in no time. As a servant, she had a stamina built up thanks to running around a mansions with all sort of tasks. But the boy that was following her hardly made a half of the distance when she sat down on grass.

“You’re so slow, Naegi.” Complained maid looking down on her master. “You know, it’s the boys that are supposed to be here faster.”

“I’m not as strong as you are.”

“Big brother is so weak.”

“Not you too, Komaru.” Complained boy, still slowly climbing up. When he was almost at the verge of hole, he winced in pain after touching one of the roots. The moment he looked at his hand he saw blood, pouring out like a juice from a squished cherry.

“Naegi! What happened?!”

“I’m not sure exactly, but I hurt my hand.” Without more words the girl pulled him out of the hole with all her might . When he was safely sitting on a ground she took his hand and examined it.

“It’s just a thorn.” She sighted with relief.

“A thorn?” he repeated after her as she pulled a triangle object out of his palm and wrapped his hand in a handkerchief.

“You know, from the roses.” She pointed with her head at the nearby bush of a lavender flowers. “We need to clean it.”

“Roses has thorns?” asked with a surprise little girl sitting down next to them. “But they are so pretty…”

“That’s the nature of the roses.” Boy looked his little sister in the eyes. “ No matter how pretty they are, they also has thorns.”

 

_And then she saw a white rabbit so she followed him…deep, deep, deep down the hole._

 

As Naegi stood in his room with all the maids and servants around him, helping him to get ready for this evening, he carefully looked at his neck in the mirror. Two bruises at the front, eight at the back. This was a proof that the strange vision he had in the hole was actually a real deal. He wasn’t sure why did it happened or why, but he was sure he needed to solve this case as soon as possible or something bad would happen.

The other thing that - at least in his opinion - was worth of examination was his white suit. The fabric for a coat and pants looked like a cotton with few golden gussets. Waistcoat was from silk and had golden buttons, with a tiny chains attached as a decoration. Shirt was made from a simple woven cotton, yet foulart in a color of night sky was from a pongee with a crest of his House attached to it in a form of brooch - a white cat holding four leaved clover, surrounded by a two ivy vines on each side.

A light knocking from behind a wall pulled him out of his thoughts. After moving one of the candlestick holder to the side, the wall opened - showing his twelve years old maid that already washed all the dust off her dress and face.

“I came to give you some information.” She announced as she stepped into a room with proud. “The one that will put the cloak on your shoulders during the ceremony will be the youngest member of Togami family.”

“Ugh, it seems that they don’t like me this much.” Naegi nervously scratched his cheek. “Shouldn’t they send someone…older? He’s at the same age as Komaru.”

“Not exactly.” Added a new voice from the darkness of the secret passage. A man in his early thirties, wearing an elegant white suit and a hat clearly out of this era, with a flask that never leaved his hand. “But what can I know about the numbers?”

“Count Kizakura!” exhaled with a surprise Naegi. “What are you doing here?!”

“I’ve received an invitation and when I found out where it takes place, I’ve decided I need to show up.” He took a sip from his flask. No one knew what was in there but they were pretty sure that it wasn’t tea. “Afterall, this place is a leftover of the once great Hope’s Peak Mansion.”

“I still forget how old you actually are.” Asahina shook her head in a mixture of disbelief and amazement. “How many years you have exactly?”

“I don’t know, I suck at math. The 76th ruler of this mansion was my dear friend, count it for yourself.”

“It makes over a 100 years! Wait…So you was there during the Tragedy!”

“Did you really forgot who had given his testimony about the Incident inside this mansion?” this time it was Naegi who shook his head in disbelief. “I remember how you had a problems with remembering my name but this is an important fact from our country history.”

“Haha, yeah. That’s how it was.” laugh of the old men was devoured of a single sign of the happiness and full of bitterness. “The Tragedy made by the last ruler - the 77th head of the mansion.”

“Did you know this ruler?!” Asahina was quickly at his side almost jumping in a place from the excitement.

“Not personally but we had met each other a few times during one of her balls. She loved to throw them in a short span of time to show off her dresses.” Kizakura scratched his chin in thought “What was her name again?”

“Don’t joke around!” Asahina poked him in the side with her index finger. “I know you are old but how can you forget about it?! Everyone knows that it was a fault of Nanami Chiaki.”

“Oh, so that was her name. I could swear it was something different.” A men stroked his chin in thought again and took a sip from his flask. “Getting back to the topic, I would gladly welcome you in our society, Naegi Makoto. I hope that your House will continue to grow strong.”

“Thank you, Count Kizakura.” Naegi put one of his hand on his chest and bowed at this words to express his gratitude.

“And remember to follow the rules!” as if to sympathize with Kizakura’s next words, the window suddenly opened, letting the wind to get inside and destroy one of the vase. “Or the Chains will come and drag you down into the Abyss!” the wind between them brought leaves and cold that dwelled down Naegi’s spine.

“ _Count Kizakura_!” Asahina scolded the unbelievably old men. “Please don’t joke like that! Only children believes in the power of the Abyss and Chains.”

“Seriously? That makes me feel uncomfortable! Ahaha! Well, that shouldn’t matter right now. I’m looking forward to today Ceremony.” And with this words he stepped back into a hidden passage.

“Rather for the alcohol after the Ceremony.” Mumbled under her breath Asahina, earning a chuckle from the young boy. “See you later, Naegi!”

“See you later!”

“Asahina-chan! Where’s the exit?”

 

_And she fell down into a deep, deep, deep hole and in front of her eyes were doors to a new world. But before she went through them she had to adjust to them first._

 

Naegi waited inside a small room next to a great ceremony hall, playing with a newfound necklace. The rose inside had a beautiful lavender color but was far from a full bloom. What was a sense of bottling up a flower if it wasn’t at its fullest?

The urgent knocking at the door interrupted the silence. Not even a second passed between Naegi’s ‘come in’ and their - rather violent - opening.

“Evening.” Said the person in the door. The boy was around Naegi’s age with a curly, blonde hair that resembled sheep’s wool. His dark suit belonged to one of this more expensive-insinuating this his upper class background and wealthy family. The most noticeable was this person not impressive height, probably even smaller than Naegi’s. Behind this boy was a woman, which quite shocked Naegi by her choice of wardrobe – namely pants in the place of a dress.

“Sorry to interrupt but my father send me here, to send his gratulations and shit like this.” He took a breath as if this whole talk was more than he would take. “So, hello in the world of the noble society! Be careful, we like to stab in the back.”

“Emm, excuse me? Who are you?”

“Tch, not even knowing this. Name is Kuzuryuu Fuyuhiko, and she’s” the boy pointed at the girl behind him “my butler.”

Now her attire made much more sense. Even if some servants were called butlers, their real profession was closer to a bodyguard. They had to protect their masters, even at the cost of their own life.

“Ah! You are the next head of the Kuzuryuu clan. I’m honored.”

And the name Kuzuryuu – the nobles without a title, how some called them. They made their name in the society thanks to a money and - how the rumors were saying - blackmailing and arsons. Many members of this family were said to work in the underground. Most of nobles didn’t wanted to have anything to do with them and avoided them as much as it was humanly possible. And vice verse.

“Don’t be. We’re only here now, so we won’t need to stick at this long-ass boring ceremony. Shit, I still remember how fucking long it had taken for me and my sister last year.” And their very specific way of speaking that consisted from all sort of cursing. “Good bye!”

And with this Kuzuryuu went out of the door. His butler bowed down as her master passed beside her, slightly bended at Naegi in a form of parting ways and closed the doors between them.

“Nobles are…truly something else.”

 

_The cake she ate was bitter, the liquid she drunk was sour but she didn’t mind it as long as she could reach the key._

 

„What do you think about it, Peko?” asked the boy with a curly hair, that was sitting in front of silver-haired girl inside the black and gold carriage. “Will he be good?”

“I can’t say for sure.” The girl named Peko answered in a stern voice. “I couldn’t sense anything from him.” She shook her head making some of her hair bangs jump a little. “Maybe Togami was wrong.”

“Well, can’t argue with that. I sometimes wish for a fuckin’ mistake from his side. That full of himself bastard! Sadly, he was right more times than I would like. And y’ know how it was with The Hero of the Tragedy.” the boy sighted with tiredness. “He had also claimed to be nothing special.”

“I’m aware of this.” Peko nodded at his words. “Yet, I still do not trust Togami’s words. He can be easily deceiving us.”

“Or simply made a fucking mistake - finally.” Filled in boy looking out the window. “So…What’s your opinion on Naegi?” light blush colored his cheeks with a light pink. “You like short guys, right? And he looks like some sort of a girly doll, right?”

 

_And when she got the key she finally could enter into a new land._

 

“I solemnly swear to protect the honor of my family. To always follow the Saint Rules of the Kingdom. And to guard my queen. I swear it on my blood, soul and name – for it is Naegi Makoto.”

Naegi recited his oath in kneeling position with his back facing the audience. This ceremony was almost at its end. He only needs to touch this old clock on the elevation and for the young Togami to put the cloak on his shoulders. Just this and he can slip away from here to talk with Komaru and Asahina. Komaru wanted him to again tell her a story about the Abyss for some reason.

As he stood up and took a few steps forward, he felt a strange feeling in his stomach. Normally the sound of gossips, flirting and moving fabric would be easily heard in a place with a strope this high but strangely the only thing he could hear was his own breath. As he stole a quick look behind he realized the reason behind it. The time…has truly stopped for everyone beside him. All hall was quiet and still not because people were waiting for him but because the world stopped its course of time.

“H-He’s here! Get h-him!” a woman's voice yelled from his right. He looked at the source of it to find a group of people wearing full-length, red cloaks standing close to the clock he was meant to approach. Naegi could dwell for a long time how impossible it should have been but he had been too many times telling this bedtime story to not recognize this people.

“Death reappears in a crimson robes…”

 

_She put key into keyhole and a new world opened in front of her._

 

”Y-You will pay for what you d-did!” The same cloak yelled again taking a few steps forward, leaving their three companions in the shadow of clock. Invisible till a light of moon shone on them through a windows.. “D-Do you hear me?! Y-You killed her! Our leader!”

“Eh? What? Me? I don’t understand what…” Naegi was waving with his hands in front of his face in - he hoped - soothing way. “This must be some kind of misunderstanding…”

“B-B-B-BE SILENT!” the same cloak screamed again. Hands of this person went under the hood of cape, probably to pull at its owner hair. The cloak that stood the farthest looked like they wanted to do something but couldn’t move for some reason. The two that stood behind the first had a way different reaction - the one closer to its right side scanned the whole room like a child that looked for a toy, the other that leaned against the clock looked bored and its hand was moving like if it was holding a fan.

Before Naegi could say anything more, two of the cloak caught his hands and hold them behind his back. The yelling women came forward with a knife in her hand. There was no way he could dodge it in this position, in a situation like this. He closed his eyes waiting for the strike that didn’t came. When he slowly cracked opened one eye, he also added a second after a short lived surprisement for the scene unfolding in front of him. What he saw was the hand and wrist of his attacker tied up by a chain with a thorns on its all length and metallic rose swaying at its end.

“She’s here! Oh, man – she’s scary!” said the robe holding his left hand that not so long ago was observing the whole room. Their high-pitched voice sounded surprisingly childlike. And a bit of rasped, as if its owner was screaming or singing too much.

“Shouldn’t you heard her sooner? Or did your ears finally dropped off from this awful music of yours.” Added to the conversation the cloak on his right - the one that had this strange hand tic. Their voice was more filled with an irritation than boredom.

“S-So you finally decided t-to show y-yourself –“ the cloak in front of him pointed with their other hand above Naegi head. When he cracked his neck up he saw the girl from the dream he had inside the hole. She had a different clothes – black miniskirt, purple coat with orange tie and black gloves with a hobnails – but there was no way that he would mistake this hair. He knew no one with a lavender hair. Not to mention the fact that not so many humans would be capable to sit on the chains that seemed to not posses either beginning or end and were floating in the air yet still looked taut.

“-the Doll of Bloody Roses!”

“It’s you…You are the one that tried to murder me…” said Naegi trying to understand the scene in front of him.

“…” a strange girl didn’t utter a word. She was just looking around with the eyes that didn’t show any kind of interest.

“What’s this? Why isn’t she talking?!” said teasingly the robe on his right. “Maybe she sensed who’s in front of her and knows what an ugly pig it is…”

“U-Ugly?” the cloak in front of Naegi squealed.

“I don’t like the idea of killing him.” finally said mysterious girl. “Do what you want, just don’t kill him.”

“Haa?” again, the cloak on his right. “Or what~? What would you do to us? Hmm?”

The girl didn’t gave the cloak answer that required words. Instand she moved her arm in the direction of snickering cloak and another chain struck the air. This time only by millimeters it missed the head of the giggling cloak and stuck itself into the floor next to them, creating a crack. Naegi for a second got a glimpse of a fair hair and brown eyes hidden under the cape.

“That was a warning.”

“Come, Can-chan!” the robe that has been holding his left hand yelled.

The purple mist started to spread from behind the yelling cloak. Even if Naegi didn’t knew what was happening every instinct in his body told him to run away from this darkness, somewhere where is light and he would have done it, if not for the person still holding both of his wrist and sitting on his ankles. It took a minute for a mist to swallow a clock and windows behind them and spread apart to show an enormous figure of a twisted upper part of a person body, with a face covered by a bandages and long, dark blue bangs. The rags that were covering her body could once have been white but now were almost yellow with a trace of red in a place where the stomach would be in a anatomical sense.

“You thinks that this Chain has any chance against me?” asked mysterious girl, her tone of voice without a single change. As if she didn’t possed emotions. “Besides, I don’t think Cantrix has any grudge against me?”

“UWAAAH! She found out!” yelled loudly girl that called upon her - now useless - weapon. For some reasons she was now jumping from one feet to the other like if she was walking on a white-hot coals.

“We just need to do this the old way.” decided with annoyment the cloak that hold his wrists. “Big Sis, can you hold your Chain a bit longer?”

“I’ll manage.” The cloak in the back that until this moment was silent finally spoke. A fatigue clearly heard in them but also a bit of a motherly tone dwelled on its end.

“You!” the cloak sitting on Naegi legs pointed at the person standing the closest to them “Stop freaking out and hold him!”

“Yes-Yes!” quickly answered the loud cloak and took a place of irritated cloak behind Naegi, holding his wrist even tighter than before. The one previously occupying his legs and wrist stood next to hysteric cloak.

“See you around.” Whispered the mysterious girl into his ear before she disappeared into nothingness.

“Wait! What’s going on here?” he called after her, never to receive answer.

“In the name of the Black Chain of hope-“

“In the name of the White Chain of despair-“

“Wait! What are you doing?! I don’t understand a thing!” no matter how loud Naegi was screaming not a single person moved to his side. No one even knew what was happening and the one’s that knew were currently trying to get rid of of him.

“We put a judge upon you! Your sin–“ both of the cloaks, the mean one and the one that spoke first, put their hands on his head.

“What's going on here?! Tell me! You must have got something wrong!” he was still screaming, even if he knew how useless it was.

”-is your very existence!” both of them said in unison.

And with this words he felt like a dozen of chains were winding around his body and pulling him down. Not into a floor or a hole under it but even deeper. As deep as the depth of the hell can be - into the Abyss.

“Naegi!” a familiar voice called his name. With a struggle he turned his head to see his friend running to his side, not caring about the figures in cloaks. How it was possible for her to move, he didn’t know but he was somehow relieved to be able to see her one more time. But then it hit him what she’s going to do and it terrified him.

“Asahina-san! Don’t come any closer!”

For nothing were his screams. The moment the cloaks spotted her, a chain stroke the air to end its short travel in her stomach. She fell on a floor and a poodle as red as the cloaks around him started to drain out and changed the color of her bodice from red to black.

“ASAHINA-SAN!” even though he screamed at the top of his lungs, he wasn’t given an opportunity to see her one more time and make sure everything would be alright. His body was finally swallowed into the darkness of the Abyss and the sight of his dying friend for eternity printed under his eyelids.

 

_A new world full of miracles and wonders waited for her behind the door. A wonderful land indeed it was._

_‘That’s why it is called a Wonderland, Alice.’ Said cat with a wide smile. ‘But remember, we all are mad here.’_

_‘What should I do to gain a knowledge here?’ asked Alice._

_‘As knowing where you're going is preferable to being lost, ask. Rabbit knows a thing or two, and I, myself, don't need a weathervane to tell which way the wind blows. Let your need guide your behaviour; suppress your instinct to lead; pursue Rabbit!’_

 

A girl with mid-thigh length lavender hair closed a book she was currently reading with a sigh.

“Just when I got to a good part.” she complained and looked in the distance of the surrounding her darkness with a few furnitures floating in the air. A typical view in the Abyss, yet she knew it won’t be so typical in a few minutes.

“Now, that the last piece is in place, it’s time to finally start my investigation.” She let the book from her hands free and it followed the example of furniture - floating in the air like a leave on the surface of water.

“...the smell of roses?” she said in thought before she jumped down from a floating upside down armchair. “It’s such a foreign smell but at the same time so familiar. I wonder why is it so nostalgic for me? Is it because I am Doll of Bloody Roses?” with this word and one last time of flipping hair with her hand she waltzed into the depth of the never ending darkness to meet her destiny.


	2. A Magnificent Rose

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check out the tags regularly. Every new character will be tagged  
> Now let's continue with this shit, I mean fic!

When Naegi woke up the only thing he saw was darkness that seemed to spread into every corner of this place, swallowing any possible source of light. Nothing besides mist, rocks and distant laughs that didn’t sound human at all.

“Where am I?” he asked as he looked around, searching for any leftovers of humans being. Then after the remnants of dream wore off he remembered what happened. “Is...this the Abyss? But, how? How is it possible?!”

He again looked around, turning like a ballet dancer - searching for anyone, anything that would help him. Because there had to be a way out, right?

“No point in staying here…” he decided and moved forward, without thinking much about direction. After a few steps he lost balance and fell over. A quick glance at his feet resolved in finding the source of obstacle - human remains, a white skeleton.

“A~!” he screamed, not sure if from a shock or a simple fear. Faster than one could expected, Naegi shook his leg to free it from the bones that trapped it. Devastating the arm of the skeleton he moved away from it, breathing fast on the verge of hyperventilating. A few breath later he stood up.

“Okay, I’m fine.” he assured himself and started to walk again. “I’ll get out of there. I’ll certainly get out of here. I’ll get back home - to Dad, Komaru and Asahina-san-” he stopped in his tracks the very moment he said the name of his friend. The vision of girl being penetrated by a chain of one of the robes danced behind his eyelids.

“Asahina-san...I’m sorry, Asahina-san.” tears came to his eyes but gone as fast as he shook his head. “It’s my fault. It’s all my fault. You only wanted to help me.” Naegi took in one more breath to ease himself and brave for his journey. “I hope that I’ll be able to attone for this…” his legs started to shake and refused to move. He punched them with his fists. His gaze for a moment lingered on the bandaged one. “Stop this. It’s time to move forward.”

And so, Naegi moved forward - into the darkness of the Abyss. How long he has been walking, he didn’t knew. Were it minutes? Hours? Months? He couldn’t tell. Not a thing changed as he moved. The rocks looked exactly the same, the mist was everywhere and the darkness never loosened their ascendancy. Even the creepy laughs sounded equally the same. From time to time he spotted floating furniture and toys, even found one more skeleton but nothing else.

But as if it was a fairytale, an enemy decided to show up. At first Naegi heard only a laugh, getting louder and louder with every second. He looked to his left and felt like he lost an ability to move. The thing he saw was a giant white square with two three-leafs clovers in place of eyes and giant mouth. The mouth opened to show a never ending hole filled with teeths - ready to swallow him in every second. The tongue that looked like a bookmark that he used to divine read pages from unreaden peeked from inside. Like a cobra looking for its prey, it moved from side to side before streaking in his direction. In the last moment Naegi regained back power in his legs and run. The tongue of the beast hit ground, devastating a bit stones and one floating in the air table. He would be lucky if it stopped there but the beast decided to follow him, all the time making unhuman noises.

“Help! Somebody! Help! Anybody!” Naegi screamed into a nothingness where even echo didn’t spread.

For any other person it would be the end of their story, but incredible luck happened. This very event became the beginning of his bitter-sweet tale.

“ _I~AUHA_!” the inhuman sound behind his back made Naegi look back. The very moment he saw beast that was chasing him impaled on a long chain, a chain that looked like a scape of roses, his eyes moved to finds its owner. He wasn’t surprised to find a lavender-haired girl, standing a good three meters behind beast with her hand pointing at its back.

“Begone.” was the only thing she said before beast disappeared in a black flames. Its screams were hurting Naegi’s ears. The girl didn’t made a huge deal out of it and with ease approached Naegi.

“Thank you.” he said when the monster got swallowed by the flames. “You saved my life.”

“As expected.” she crossed arms and tilted her head to a side not looking at him. “You truly are powerless and weak. I wonder why they considered you a threat?”

“Hmm? You mean the Reapers in red robes?” the stranger girl nodded. “I have no idea. I thought that you may know the answer.”

“Hmm?” she raised her eyebrows slightly and looked at him puzzled. “Why would I?”

“Well, you also tried to kill me earlier…” Naegi scratched his cheek with an awkward laugh before he put his hands in front of himself in a defensive gesture. “But you saved me a moment ago, so it cancels out!”

“If you didn’t realized it yet, let me explain - I was helping you when the robes attacked you.”

“No, not this. I was talking about earlier. When you were strangling me.”

“...I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Eh?”

“This is our second meeting.” she flipped her hair from the shoulder to the back. “The first one was during your ritual.”

“It was an ceremony…”

“Oh, sorry then.” she looked into his eyes with annoyment. “During your ceremony.”

“Are you sure? Because today someone that looked like you tried to strangle me.”

“I’m a Chain.” she answered him coldly as if it was enough to explain. “I can’t go over to your world unless some circumstances are made.”

“But it was in here-is this Abyss?” shiver of a fear traveled down Naegi’s spine. “Is this place here...truly an Abyss?”

Girl only shrugged with her shoulders before a bunch of chains rose from the ground for her uplifted finger.

“Since I am Chain, then it must be. That’s the only logical explanation.” her finger flopped, so did the chains around her.

“Then you must know this place like no one else!” Naegi exhaled happily as he took one of girl's hand. “Will you help me get out of here?!”

“...” a lavender-haired girl only looked at their joined hands for a flick of second before facing him again. “You’re strange…”

“Ha?”

“You just got casted into the Abyss, almost got killed by a Trump Card and now you’re asking strange girl to help you.”

“AH! Sorry!” Naegi immediately let go of her gloved hand and took a step back. “That was rude of me. I should at least start with an introductions. My name is Naegi Makoto. The first child and the only son of Lord Naegi from the Naegi Household.”

“A noble? You doesn’t look like one.” she sighed “That was a long title.”

“Really? Many Dukes has longers, mine is average.” he scratched his cheek in embarrassment. “What’s your name?”

“...Do I have to tell you that?”

“No! It’s not an obligation. I recall they, the robes I mean, called you the Bloody Doll of Roses?”

“The Doll of Bloody Roses.” she corrected him only to sight again. “Kyoko.”

“Hmm?”

“That’s my name. I’m not telling this to everyone but calling me by my title would be problematic.”

“Okay then, Kyoko-san” girl blinked twice but didn’t utter a word. “Do you know where the exit is? I walked for so long but didn’t found it.”

“There is a way out but it isn’t an exit you’re looking for.” She caught a passing by them box of cookies and opened it - with delightful still finding them edible.

“But I can escape from here?!” asked exited Naegi as he nibbled at the cookie.

“Yes, it’s simple.” Kyoko devoured all cookie she had in hand before she continued. “You just have to make a contract with me.”

“Contract?”

“Right now, my powers are sealed so I can’t come over to your world as I wish. And I believe that I have some business to do there. But the contract would allow me to do it and you - as my contrahent - would be pulled back with me.” she explained.

“Why your powers are sealed?”

“Who knows?”

“Wait! Contact with you? But that’s mean-”

“Becoming an illegal contrahent? Yes, exactly.” she picked another cookie from the box.

“That’s awful! It’s sinful!”

“But aren’t you already marked as a sinful?”

Naegi flinched at the memory of the words that Robes used to bind him goodbye. Kyoko noticed it but decided to didn’t say a thing.

“Well, the choice is yours to make but I will be there only as long as I have cookies.” Kyoko announced and to get it clearer she took a big bite of the one she was currently holding.

Naegi quickly looked inside the box to spot only three. Or rather two because Kyoko already ate the one she was holding in a record time.

“You know, Kyoko-san -”

Before Naegi would end his sentence a wild inhuman scream echoed through the Abyss.

“Another Trump Card…” Kyoko shoved box into his hands and gracefully walked to the direction of the sound.

The moment they split someone caught Naegi by his elbow and pulled him hardly. After almost losing his balance he glanced up to see a familiar black coat and characteristic silver hair braided into two pigtails.

“I remember you! You are butler of Kuzuryuu-kun.” said butler didn’t utter a word, just continued to drag him away.

“Did you came here to save me?” the butler nodded, still dragging him away with a strength he didn’t suspected from her.

“I’m very grateful to you! I didn’t expected Kuzuryuus to send someone. You must be a great warrior to be send here. Who gave you the orders.” Naegi continued his bubbling while silver-haired girl continued being silent.

For a second Naegi could swear he saw a sinister smile on her face but it was gone in the blink of an eye. Nevertheless, this glimpse send him a shiver down his spine.

“This may sound strange but I didn’t asked for your name yet…”

“...” girl did nothing with his subtle suggestion, only dragged him away.

“You’re not Kuzuryuu’s butler, am I right?”

The girl finally stopped and turned her head at him. It tilted under impossible for a human angle. Her cheekbones almost touched her shoulder blade and lips twisted in a smile that brought to mind creatures from the east.

“Ah~ And here I thought that I’ve caught you~” the monstrum spoken in a voice that seemed to belong to many at the same time, as if a crowd of people were speaking in the same time with the same tone. “I don’t like exercising before dinner~” every time the girl, that already started to morph into something that looked more like a toad than an attractive women, parted her lips she would show inside them the spiral of never ending teeth that were nagging Naegi to come. “This stupid Doll takes anything what looks tasty for herself!”

“Look out!”

Before Naegi could fully register what happened, the beast in front of him was pierced by an ivy-like chain from behind. The end of it almost hit Naegi’s foot.

“Damn you! You, Bloody Doll!” the beast that was half-way through a transformation cursed. Its inhuman screams were more than enough to plant a fear inside the minds of the bravest mens.

“I’ll hold it off. You can run away.” another chain struck through the air and hit beast. “Maybe you’ll find another Chain and escape from here.” a weapon - a scythe with three meters long cane decorated by a sculpted intricately scapes of roses that twined around it till it reached blade - showed in her hands and she run towards a monstrum.

“Wait!”

Before Naegi could add anything more, she jumped and stroke down the beast. Her feets in black boots gracefully bounced on its back and she used this opportunity to attack again, successfully cutting stranger Chain again.

“You’ve got lazy, Trump of Club.”

Naegi couldn’t move an inch, even if he would like. The very thing in front of his eyes looked magnificently, almost magical. Kyoko was jumping around and cutting monstrum yet still managed to make it look like a graceful waltz. Her every step had something that didn’t let Naegi close eyes even for a second, because it would mean that he won’t see it.

Jump, swirl, hit of chain, swirl to dodge a hit, slash, taking steps back, one to right, again hit, jumping back, again chains, run forward, slash…

_She’s wonderful. She...isn’t afraid at all. And she makes it look so beautiful at the same time…_

“Ack!” Kyoko suddenly gasped, when a tongue wrapped around her body.

“Kyoko-san!”

“Kcha-hahahaha! Who's got lazy again?~” mocked card-looking monster, wrapping his tongue even tighter around the girl, for which she moaned from a pain. “Weren’t your moves a bit rusted?~”

_Rusted? She could move like this and it was still nothing?!...Ceremony! She must be tired because she visited human world!_

“Well, they say that you can’t start from a dessert but I may do an exception today.” one of teethy mouth snapped inside monster, sending around a saliva.

“Kyoko-san!”

“Run while he is still preoccupied.” girl send him a sad smile. “Forget about me.”

“Thanks for the meal~” Trump of Clubs pulled back his tongue, swallowing the Chain he caught.

_No...please...no more...I don’t...I don’t want to see it anymore...people dying in front of me. I don’t want this…_

“Kyoko!”

With a war cry Naegi run toward the Chain and hit it in the eye with a nearby rock. Trump of Club yelled from a pain but didn’t let go of his pray. But this wasn’t Naegi’s objective. Getting the chance that, quite literally, opened in front of him, Naegi jumped inside enormous mouth of Chain. It didn’t took more that a second before he saw unconscious Kyoko covered in a saliva of the Trump of Clubs.

“Kyoko-san! Kyoko-san, do you hear me?” Naegi stretched his hand out toward the girl that right now truly looked like a porcelain doll. Kyoko slowly, slightly opened up her eyes.

“Naegi...Makoto?”

“I don’t want you to die! I don’t want anyone else to die again because of me!” Naegi struggled to take a few steps towards in a dense saliva that overtook insides of the mouth like a ocean. “That’s why - I agree! I agree to become your contrahent!” Naegi lost his balance and fell face down into a dense substance. “Please, make a contract with me!”

“Hmm.”

Like by a touch of a magic wand Kyoko released herself from holding her tongue and send a bunch of chains in every direction possible, destroying hostile Chain with its agonizing scream.

“I appreciate your politeness.” Kyoko snapped fingers and chains wrapped around Naegi, stopping him from performing any movement. “But I don’t like when someone uses my name so lightly.”

Kyoko caught him by a chin and lowered her head down. Before Naegi’s brain matched all dots, her soft lips already touched his.

“Mmph!”

And before he could get accustomed to it, his lips got parted and her tongue invaded insides of his mouth, touching every place that it could reach.

And as fast as it started, it ended with only a stretch of saliva connecting their lips. Kyoko face looked unamused the whole time. She didn’t even closed her eyes for a kiss. As for Naegi - in the beginning he was only visibly shocked and embarrassed but in the next second a dreadful pain in his chest made him scream like an animal. The light started to emit from his left breast and when it ended, he opened his now purple eyes.

“Finally, it’s time to investigate the world of humans.” he said in an unamused tone before a stroke of light blinded him, bidding with this goodbye to the Abyss.

 

~*~

“Hmm, how strange.” said a being that ruled Abyss for forgotten how long times. “I’m still bored, yet I feel like something just changed.”

Even if they didn’t hear it, some Chains in the Abyss trembled. They also felt that changes were coming their way.

“Well, any outcome is better than this boredom right now.” the being sighted. “I wonder, how close to Hope’s Peak disaster this’ll get…”

 

~*~

_Naegi!_

_A chain stroke down through the air and hit a tanned girl in a white shirt, red bodice and blue skirt. Her eyes showed only shock that changed in the surprisement in a blink of the eye - silent questions of “What? Why? What’s this?” written all over it. The chain got pulled back with a gurgling sound and the girl choked on her blood, that was also dripping down her chin. The once so clear eyes were getting duller and duller with every second, reminiscent of a dead fish. the front of her clothes suddenly got darker from the wound she received and never ending blood pouring out from it. The only emotions in her eyes were pain, regret and anger._

“Asahina!” Naegi called out when he opened his eyes. A girl with a tanned skin and brown ponytail was looking down at him. Her eyes were widened in a pure shock. Only now Naegi realised that he was holding her by a wrist. “Ah! Sorry”

“Oh, he woke up.” said some quite familiar voice from his right. Naegi sit up on a bed that he only now realized was using, to see past curtains of a surrounding bed fabric. “Yo, Sleepy brat.”

Kuzuryuu Fuyuhiko - the next head of his House, was sitting in an armchair with his feets on a coffee table and his butler behind his back, who currently was re-arranging flowers in a vase and scanning room with her visible right eye.

“So a pest finally decided to give us some time?” another voice, a sarcastic one, added to a debate. It belonged to a tall men around Naegi’s age with a platinum blond hair and glasses. “I would love to hear something from him that won’t be as pathetic as him.”

“Stop with the insults, will ya?”

“A lowly delinquents of your kind should keep their mouth shut.” a stranger stood up and approached Naegi.

“Oi oi, easy there. Don’t fucking forget that you own a favor to this ‘lowly delinquents’ as you just called us.”

“So, Naegi Makoto managed to escape from the Abyss with his own power alone. I must admit” the stranger adjusted his glasses. “I’m quite curious of how did you pulled it.”

“Alone? Wait! Uh-” Naegi scowled from a pain in his chest that constricted his lungs. “I met someone there! A girl! She helped me escape!”

“As figures” the men in front of him again touched his glasses. “Humans can’t escape from there alone.”

“Didn’t you found somebody with me?!”

“Nah. Just your sorry ass.” answered him Kuzuryuu. Naegi felt a strange, heavy weight on his chest. Did he...really escaped alone? Without Kyoko?

“That being said, allow me to introduce myself. I’m from a Togami House, the youngest out of everyone - Byakuya.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Skip the formalities and answer my question.” cut him Togami without even bowing. “How did you escaped from the Abyss. Depending on your answer we can either let you live or execute you in this very place.” with that being said Byakuya pointed at the silver-haired girl.

“How did I escaped? I made a contract with this girl, well, she was a Chain actually. Her name-”

“So you’ve became an illegal contractor?”

“Um, yes.”

“Oh~ And how is this peculiar Chain of yours named?”

“Um, I forgot again. It was a pretty long name.” Naegi scratched his cheek in embarrassment. “Hmm~ Something with doll and roses…”

“WHAT?!” Kuzuryuu stood up from his place so fast that he send his armchair to the ground. In an instand he grabbed Naegi by his tie. “You, motherfucker, made a contract with a bloody Doll of a Bloody Roses?”

“Kuzuryuu!” the girl with ponytail scolded him. She looked ready to kick him in the face in any minute.

“There is one ‘bloody’ too much but yes.” eventually said Naegi to the people in front of him.

“Holy fuck…” Kuzuryuu let go of his clothes and stumbled back a few steps.

“Language, pest.”

“But since you didn’t saw her I doubt she escaped with me.” Naegi laughed bitterly. “So now I’m a contrahent without a Chain.”

“Hmph, we’ll see.” Togami turned his back at him “For more details I’ll ask you during dinner.” and with this words everyone marched out of the room. Naegi followed them only to stop when a bolt went through his body the moment he set his foot in a door frame. Electricity made him stop in his track and send him on his knees. Around him some white circles started to glisten.

“As expected from a Chain.” Togami turned on his heel. “All of you posses a terrible acting skills.”

“Oh, so I got found out?” spoke Naegi with an emotionless face. His purple eyes glistened. “If I’m allowed to ask, what gave me out?”

“Naegis have an awful habit of overreacting. Plus - on all paintings they have green eyes. It’s like their signature. Not to mention that he didn’t even stutter a word about his family.”

“Oi, Togami! What the hell going on?”

“I simply caught a rat.” Togami pointed at something in the door frame. “There are onyxes. Gems don’t lie.”

“So what are you trying to say” Kuzuryuu’s butler stepped forward. “is that this person here isn’t Naegi Makoto?”

“No, that’s wrong. What I am saying is that we weren’t talking with Naegi Makoto.”

“Then who the hell is this?” yelled Kuzuryuu, his hand unconsciously moving behind him.

“Use this head of yours. If you have at least two brain cells you should already know this.”

“Doll of the Bloody Roses.” filled the answer tanned girl that kept silent till now.

“Wha?!”

“What do you want from me?” asked them the Chain inside Naegi’s body with his voice. Tanned girl and Kuzuryuu both screwed up their faces hearing it.

“First, to show yourself to us.” Togami looked to his side. “Hey, you. Do it.”

“Hmph. Fine, fine.” tanned girl took a few steps before she kneeled in front of glistening circle. She placed her hands close to it and started mumbling. The circle glistened even more and the body inside it parted for two different people - green-eyed Naegi and a lavender-haired girl.

“A girl?”escaped from Kuzuryuu’s mouth, his voice an octave higher than usual.

“Stay back, Young Master.”

“Hmph, so that’s your form.”

“Something's wrong.” stated butler. Togami and Kuzuryuu together looked inside glistening circle.

Some kind of a black smoke emitted from Naegi’s pocket. It grew bigger and bigger until it took a form of a frog - the one you would expected to find in alchemic’s laboratory, half decomposed with impossible to count amount of stiches. Exept that this one was large enough to almost touch a ceiling four meters above their heads.

“Wha...wha...What the HELL is this thing?!”

“You moron!” Togami shouted. “What have you done?!”

“It’s not my fault!” tanned girl protested. “He must have had something sealed with him. Peko-chan!”

“Yes!”

Silver-haired butler moved with a lightning speed, making herself look like a black and silver blur. She jumped in the air and cut down the toad, with its ear-splitting scream.

“Eliminated.” butler shook a green-black substance off from her sword but before she put it back into attached to a belt of her trousers holder the toad regenerated itself. “Absurd.”

“Tch, that’s problematic.” commented Togami.

“ _Problematic_ ?” Kuzuryuu pulled Togami by the front of his blazer. “Peko cut it down and it did _nothing_! That’s far from a fucking problematic!”

“I appologize, Young Master.”

A toad took this moment to attack them all with its tongue. Black whip swiped through the corridor, destroying walls, tables, paintings and vases.

“Oh, poor Older Brother.” commented over one of the destroyed picture Togami. “Sadly, I don’t even remember his name. Destroy it, so it won’t stain a honour of Togami’s security!”

“Naegi-kun” lavender-haired girl pulled him by a sleeve. “Let me fight. I can help them.”

“What? Aren’t you injured from your last battle?”

“I was pretending.”

“Oh...why do you need my permission?” Naegi faced Kyoko whose face was slightly painted with pain.

“They won’t let me.” she pointed at Togami and the rest fighting off against Chain. Kuzuryuu pulled out two pistols and was shooting toad in the eyes while his butler together with tanned girl were attacking directly with sword or kicks and daggers. Tanned girl had knives hidden in the heels of her shoes that now were pulled out. Togami just stood in the back, avoiding the pieces of furniture coming his way, from time to time commenting on a painting of a person it seemed to belong to.

“You want me to...convince them?”

“Hey, you there!” Togami suddenly shouted at them. “I can hear here what you two are discussing.”

“Then, you should let Kyoko-”

“What kind of business do you have, Doll?” said Togami, giving her a cold stare.”Last I checked, you wouldn’t gain anything from helping us. Unless you explain yourself, I won’t let you out of here.”

“...can you even do that? You asked this other girl to perform Binding instand of doing it yourself.”

“Well, I believe that even ameba such as this guy” he pointed at Kuzuryuu. “would be capable of wiping off a chalk and pulling out a gem.”

“I’ll fucking kill you, Togami!” yelled Kuzuryuu between shouting.

“What’s your decision, Doll of Bloody Roses?”

“...Understood.” Kyoko nodded in agreement. “I came here to regain my lost memories.”

“Memories?” repeated Togami, uprising his eyebrows clearly showing off his disbelief. “Do you expect me to believe in such a nonsense?”

“Kyoko-san, is that true?” Naegi asked the girl. “You don’t have memories?”

“If she doesn’t have them, then how does she knows it?” Togami dwelled in.

“It’s true.” Kyoko continued and Naegi for a short moment heard a faint echo of emotions in her voice. “When I woke up in the Abyss I only knew two things. That I’m Doll of Bloody Roses and that my memories got shattered and hidden in this world.”

“And you think that I’ll believe that.” Togami’s face wrinkled the same way as if he was looking at a particularly ugly cockroach. Kyoko only shrugged with her shoulders.

“It’s up to you.” was everything she said as a response.

“Well then” Togami pulled out a handgun and pointed it at Kyoko. “I give you one more chance. If you tell me the truth I won’t shoot you.”

“I’m telling the truth. And you should know that bullets can’t kill a Chain.”

“Those aren’t your usual bullets.” Togami looked at the frozen Naegi that was laying on the ground next to Kyoko. “I must admit, you made a contract with an extraordinary Chain, Naegi. Reserches has confirmed that she has a personality of her own as long as she remains in her human form.”

“You...researched me?”

“I’ll ask you one more time - what is your true objective?”

“...” Kyoko remained silent, staring at the handgun without a trace of worry on her face.

“Very well then.” Togami pulled back a trig but before he would shoot Naegi moved between gun barrel and Kyoko.

“If you shoot Kyoko-san I won’t cooperate with you.” threatened Naegi.

“Oh? And why would it bother me?”

“You saved me when I got out of the Abyss and still continues to ask questions.” Pointed out Naegi looking Togami in the eyes. “If you didn’t care about that, you would already killed us in the beginning without letting Kyoko-san show up. You can either let her fight now and have some questions later or kill me now and lost a possibility.”

“And what if I were to trick you?”

“I don’t believe that would happen but in this case I’ll refuse anything you'll offer. She was the one to save me from the Abyss and just this is enough for me to trust her. Therefore I won’t trust anyone who dare to injue a person that I owe my life to.”

“...trust?” whispered Kyoko behind his back to herself.

“Then, what are you waiting for?” Togami hide his handgun in the folds of his blazer. “I’m quite curious of your abilities, Doll.” Togami wiped off some of the chalk from the ground with a shoe and with a kick destroyed a door frame, resulting in a black gem falling out.

The gleam disappeared and Kyoko stood up from her knees. She only flipped once with her hair before asking everyone to step back. Out of nowhere a scythe showed up in her hands, this time only a bit longer than a girl’s frame. She sent a look at Togami for what he shrugged with his shoulder with a nonchalance.

Without a need for continuing this talk, Kyoko again looked at the toad-like Chain. She took in a short breath and rushed in its direction, jumping up when she got close enough to strike it from the top. Due to some miscalculations she had to defend herself from its tongue with a swirl. She still managed to land without a problem on its head.

“Quite agile. Not a bad combat skills.” commented Togami.

Kyoko took her scythe and hit toad with all her might in the head. The ear stretching sounds filled the hall and in a moment toad started to guggle like a boiling water. In no time it exploded, leaving behind only a smeary, black traces on the walls and carpet and a tiny figure of a lavender-haired girl that fell on her knees.

“Kyoko-san!” Naegi run to a girl that collapsed on the ground. “What’s wrong?”

“I found it.” she said opening her hand, showing a necklace with an in-vitro lavender rose. “A piece of my memory.”

“Your memory?”

“The smell of rose called me to you. It was a smell from this necklace.” Kyoko looked at Naegi, a faint smile on her face and a warmth in her eyes. “Thank you, Naegi.”

“Look at this, Togami.” Kuzuryuu stood next to his accomplice. “It looks like she wasn’t selling you a bullshit.”

“Why do you think that?”

“I can’t always tell when people say truth but I can smell a lie from afar.”

“That’s true.” silver-haired butler stood next to him. “When you are surrounded by a criminals you have to tell which information they hold is valuable.”

And this face” Kuzuryuu pointed at a happy Kyoko and embarrassed Naegi.”doesn’t look like a one of an act of liar.”

“Well, she saved Naegi back there. I don’t think she’s not worthy of our trust. Especially since she’s such a cute girl.” pointed out a tanned girl.

“You never change, Siren.” said silver-haired butler in a plain voice in which only her master found some annoyance hidden beneath.“Young Master, Togami, may I suggest something?” silver-haired butler said, looking to her right for permission.

“Go on, Peko.”

“The Chain we fought wasn’t a strong opponent, yet wouldn’t crumble until Doll attacked it. And after she done it she got her memory back. I think that we can cross off any outside influence and believe that the neclace itself opened a path for this chain."

“What do you suggest?” irritated voice of Togami cut in.

“That perhaps she also may be one of the people we were looking for. Maybe with her by our side obtaining Kamukura Izuru wouldn’t be impossible.”

“Oh? A brainless toy like you said something usefull. I’m surprised.”

“Hey, you bastard! Don’t you _ever_ call Peko like that!”

“Yeah! Exactly!” added tanned girl. “You’re just awful! Why do I even still work for you?!”

“Need reminding?” Togami’s eyes dared to Naegi and Kirigiri chatting a few meters away from them.

“No. I don’t need it. Especially from you.”

“I remembered...my surname.” Kyoko clenched pendant close to her chest and looked into Naegi’s eyes. She still had this faint smile on her face that Naegi found strangely endearing after looking at her still face for so long. “Kirigiri. My full name...is Kirigiri Kyoko. Kirigiri - like a fog cutter.”

“Kirigiri-san, then? That’s a nice surname.” Naegi smiled back. “It suits you.”

Kyoko still continued to smile as she handed him over a necklace but the moment it touched Naegi’s hand he lost his conscious and fell on the floor.

“Naegi!” a bunch of people yelled, running to his laying on a ground body with a shocked Kirigiri sitting next to him.

 

~*~

 

Naegi found himself in a white area, without a floor or a ceiling to ground him. Only few long and thin windows floated in the air, giving him some clues to a walls placement.

“Where…”

“Ah, you’ve come at last.” said a voice behind him. He turned around to find a large door frame with a purple curtain in it. He knew that someone stood there but the shadow that curtains were putting hidden his face. Only a bit of a green coat was visible for Naegi’s eyes and a raspy voice with some of cheerful notes for his ears.

“Who…”

“I’ve been waiting here for a long~ time.”

“Who are you?” asked curiously Naegi. The coat of this person seemed a bit familiar but he couldn’t put exactly why.

“Me? That’s irrelevant. I’m not worthy of your interest. But I hope that you’ll listen to what I have to say.”

“Listen?”

“You must collect all of the pieces of Kirigiri Kyoko’s memories.” Naegi took a few steps toward a person behind a curtains. “Her life has been kindled, just because she recovered one of her memories.”

_Kindled?...Ah, that’s why she looked that happy._

“That’s why you should understand that you should be the one to find them. Do it quickly, before someone else do it.”

“Somebody is also looking for them?! Why?!”

“As an encouragement” a pale hand with a long fingers pointed at him from behind curtains making Naegi stop in his poor attempt of getting close to their owner. “I’ll tell you this. In her memories lays the answer you’re seeking for. The answers to the form of a sin you’ve committed.”

“Answer?”

“Haha…” a breathy laugh bit a farewell to Naegi.

 

~*~

 

“Ah, now I’m sure that something will happen. A gears in a rusted clock moved. My heartbeat got faster. This must be it. The new chapter begins. The chapter of this funny fairytale plotted by someone else. Maybe all of this turn out to not be so boring…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Editing done, now enjoy the story. Sorry for the long wait but my job is killing me ( ;_ ;) I should just quit it but money are nice...  
> Well, how did you find it? Did you enjoyed? Or hated it? Let me know what you think~
> 
> P.S.:Does any of you know who was behind the curtain?


	3. A Clock of lost souls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I've came back after a long crusade that's called mid-terms exams. Enjoy this new chap while go back to writing essays.  
> Remember to check out tags regularly!

_Oh. You came again._

_Haha, yeah, it seems as such._

 

_Oh! Congratulation, Little Lady._

_It’s a draw again…_

_Still, I believe it’s stunning how well you play chess._

 

_This is your favorite doll? She can sing, right?_

_Only when she stands next to roses._

_Ahaha. Right. You really love dolls and roses._

 

_I’ve trusted you! I’ve trusted you, yet you still betrayed me!_

_Hmm? Didn’t I told you that I’m not worth of holding onto._

_How dare you use my friends like that?!_

_Friends? Aren’t you delusioned? Those are merely an objects._

_Shut up! You’re rotten to the bone. You...They were right to call you abomination._

 

If you asked Naegi if he ever had a sleeping disorders the answer would be “mostly no”. Although in the last few hours he was able to recovered every hour he wasn’t given in the past. In his case it was more than justified, after all it’s not an everyday occurrence to be swallowed into the Abyss, getting out thanks to the strange girl that happens to be one of the strongest Chain, and fainting after touching a necklace that gave him a prophetic dream and clue.

So when he finally got back, and found himself in the same bed as before, you shouldn’t blame him for asking.

“What’s going on?”

And, no matter how much it would peeved many, Togami’s next words were pretty on point.

“Shut yourself, you pest.”

“Shut yourself, Togami.” bite off Kuzuryuu. He was hardly seen from Naegi’s place, occupying the back of room cleaning his weapons. His right eyebrow had now fresh scar. “Did you never interrogated anyone?”

“I did, but most of times I leave it to the one like yourself.” he answered as he closed the book he was reading, or rather pretending to read.

Kuzuryuu tried all his might not to shoot Togami, or order his butler to did so in his place, so he left his gun on a coffee table and quickly grabbed chair to sit in front of Naegi, putting elbows on backrest. If his hands were seen it would be harder to smack Togami in the head. The silver-haired butler followed him like a shadow.

“Okay, time to spill some bean, you short fucker.”

“What about my sister?!” the interrogation started, although not from the person that prepared it. Kuzuryuu only slightly parted his lips before Naegi buried him under questions. “Is she safe?! Nothing happened to her while I was away?! And Asahina-san?! What about her? Was she given a proper treatment?! I know she was badly injured but she still could be safed!”

“Shut THE HELL UP!’ finally yelled Kuzuryuu, only to catch his breath afterwards. Luckily for everyone it was enough to silence Naegi. “Fuck, you’re annoying. Fine! Your sister is fine! Your father put her-ugh!” his butler not-so-subtly kicked him in the ankle.

“You had a fly on your leg.” she simply said, before she took a step back bowing her head.

“What? Fly? Oh, a fly.” a sound of swallowing saliva happened to be weirdly loud and heavy. “T-Then next time simply s-said so. No need for violence.”

“A head of underground world says there’s no need for violence.” Togami flipped eyes, an annoyed click of tongue escaped from him. “This world truly goes down full-head.”

“As for the maid, they’ve treated her.” Kuzuryuu’s eyes darted to the side, as if escaping Naegi’s crystal-like gaze. “I think her condition is good. That’s what this drunkass Kizakura said, at least.”

“She’s...alive?”

“That’s a good news, right?” a rattle on his left caught Naegi attention. “You were worried about her.”

“Kirigiri-san?” Naegi looked to his left and, there she was - Kirigiri Kyouko, still looking as stunning as before, despite fighting just a few minutes ago. She was sitting at the feet of the bed reading book. Nothing would look out of ordinary until you took a closer look at her wrists and right ankle, where a black handcuffs obstructed her movements. Metal links would rattle with her even the smallest move. “Wait! Why are you wearing cuffs?!”

“I believe this is due to him” Kirigiri pointed at Togami with her book before turning next page. Naegi got a glimpse of a white rabbit dressed in jacked on the cover. “and his belief that I’m dangerous.”

“Why don’t you argue then?!”

“The truth will certainly show soon that there’s no need keep me in the cuffs. It’s only a minor inconvenience.”

“But…” Naegi got closer to her, shuffling with his knees and hands on a satin comforter. Black links cuffed to one of the bed’s leg rattled furiously when he pulled them angrily in hope of freeing the girl. “It’s inhuman! To hold people like this...”

“Are you an idiot?” Togami spoke out loud, with even more power in his voice than he used through this whole time. “She’s not human. It’s a Chain that can simply take a form of a person. Possibly, one of its previous contrahent.”

“Well, I’m not capable of answering that.” simply refuted Kirigiri, slightly tilting her head. “But as long as I remember, I’ve never ate a human.”

“Tch. Well said, Murderer of Hope.” muttered Kuzuryuu. Kirigiri pulled her eyes away from the book and exchanged with Naegi a meaningful look. He also was seeking answer in her eyes.

“Em, excuse me?” green eyes looked back at the scowled face. “What do you mean by that?”

“Eh? You don’t know how The Tragedy occurred?” Kuzuryuu’s injured eyebrow lifted up in question. Kirigiri shook her head but Naegi cupped his chin in thought. He not so long ago told this story to his sister.

“All members of the Hope’s Peak Mansion, along with their leader took too much pride into their illegal contracts and overused their power to silence everyone that opposed them due to the Incident. The God of the Abyss got mad at them and as punishment opened gates to his world. A way connecting to them got so large that it ate everyone that lived in the city, except for the Hero who was left because he killed the source of this all - the leader of Hope’s Peak Mansion. That’s what the bedtime story tells. Officially, in history books it’s written that a poisonous gas escaped from the mine and killed everyone in their sleep.”

“Congratulation, three.” Togami adjusted his glasses. “A true story behind this is known only to the members of the Future Foundation.”

“Their files says that the Leader of Household ordered to connect a way and used powers of Doll of Bloody Roses to drag world into the Abyss.” spoke in professional voice silver-haired butler without looking at them, keeping her eyes glued to the outside with a tips of left hand touching glass of the window. “The details are unknown but the moment the Hero killed them, everything stopped and world resoluted back, with only a massacred bodies of residents left.”

Naegi looked at Kirigiri but she only shrugged with her shoulders and shook head. It seemed that she also didn’t had a single clue regarding this story.

“What she’s trying to say” Kuzuryuu took over, shifting on his chair. “is that Doll killed all people that lived in this city a 100 years ago.”

“What?!” Naegi looked at petite frame of Kirigiri. She could fight like nobody else, he saw that with his very own eyes. Yet the idea of a girl who cried over gotten back memory and a mass murderer as one and the same seemed ridiculous. She was simply a girl he trusted to get him out of the Abyss and fulfilled in doing so.

“I have no memory of that.”

“Tch.” Togami’s clicking tongue got louder than before. “Start cooperate or we’ll have no other way but to arrest this bug.”

“Huh?”

“Hey, Togami!” Kuzuryuu shouted, letting Togami win an attention of his butler and a stern look in her visible eye.

“Do you also have a problem with memory?” Togami’s arms in bottle green suit crossed. “What does Future Foundation do?”

“Preserve public order and people from the Chains as well as hunt down illegal contractors.” Kuzuryuu intonated with a dry voice. On a verge of her vision Kirigiri saw his butler moving one hand under her black and red coat.

“Correct. And what does we have here?”

“A Chain and illegal contractor.”

“And this bugs me” Kirigiri closed book with a loud thump “if you truly are after illegal contractor, why do you still talk with us? At first I thought that you’re just curious and maybe doing some research on your own before you brings us to proper facility but it doesn’t make sense. You clearly desire something from us.”

“That’s your conclusion?”

“I only got as much with the informations I was given.”

“You’re correct.” Naegi wasn’t sure but for a second he heard some praise in Togami’s words. “We have ulterior motives with you two.”

“And those are?”

“Figure it yourself.”

“And you call me an ‘easy spill beans’...” complained Kuzuryuu rolling with his eyes.

“What is the reason you wanted to cooperate with us?” Naegi finally took a voice in this conversation. “You said so earlier, Togami-kun. You wanted to cooperate with me.”

“Tch.”

_Huh? Is he angry?_

“Well, we always had the same ambitions as them.” Togami looked as if he was ready spit the last word. “It turned out that you’re needed to fulfill them. That’s why you two should work for me.”

“Work for you?” Kirigiri repeated after him, furrowing her eyebrows in thought.

“Besides illegal contractors, we also chase after the people under Red Cloaks.”

“Red Cloaks…” this time it was Naegi who repeated his words.

“The one that casted you into the Abyss, the one and the same.”

“You would share informations with us?” Kirigiri asked coldly, in calculated manners yet a notes of distrust clearly sang between lines.

“It hurts me deeply to do that” Togami stood up with his chin kept up to look down at two figures on the bed “but that is needed to achieve success.”

 

_My memories are causing Way to appear. With their informations and help it would be easier to obtain them. Cooperation definitely becomes useful._

 

_If I work with them, then maybe I’ll be able to find out why they decided to cast me and help Kirigiri-san. And...that person also said that answer to my sin is written in her memories._

 

“Sorry to butt in” said in absolutely not apologetic voice Kuzuryuu. “But I would agree for this. Togami is a jerk, but if you work with him you’ll get away from your dear ones. This’ll probably keeps them safe.”

Naegi gulped as the smiling face of his younger sister danced in his mind, calling him dearly in this full of joy voice. The last thing he wanted was to get her hurt and since he knew now that Asahina was also alive, getting as far as possible from them, no matter how heartbreaking, was the best way. He casted a pleading look at Kirigiri, hoping that she would go with him. She just nodded once with her head.

“Alright, we’ll work with you.”

A door opened and a tanned girl walk inside with a tray - every possible kind of food that Naegi missed during his two days in the Abyss placed there. A silver pot with still steaming coffee and a little pitcher with milk stood next to a curry with wonderfully smelling beef with addition of onion, garlic, potatoes, chili and incredibly white rice. A plate of cookies with chocolate crisps and cupcakes with icing in the shape of roses, which still had a smell of butter lingering to them. Another plate had a chocolate crepes with vanilla cream inside. A bowl with orange colored soup which smell inched noses with spices. A growl escaped from Naegi’s stomach.

“Bon appetit!” shouted cheerful girl and took a bite out of one of donuts from the tray. Kirigiri and Naegi didn’t need to hear it twice to jump at the delicious looking food. An astray beam of sun shone through the window, creating rainbow in one of the crystal bowl. As he took a first bite of his curry, a lone tear run down his cheek.

 

_A warm sunlight, a smell of coffee poured into porcelain cup - this all had such a nostalgic ring to it._

 

_The more I think about it now, the more I see how much of it was inevitable. Our gathering here and the fact I couldn’t bring myself to leave Kirigiri alone._

 

_Yes, all of it, was just a very funny fairytale._

 

~*~

 

“Hmm~ One; Two; Three~” a single person sang in a raspy voice as they looked over the wrapped silvers inside fireplace. “I’ll burn all of them into black coals~”

“Kyachaha!” another one giggled and pulled out two fans, as if they were preparing for a performance. “That was nice! I want to dance to it!”

“Four, five, six” the first one continued, poking with a stick between firewood. ”I’ll throw them at enemies~”

“Hey, look out for them.” person sitting more in the back of the room rebuked them. “We don’t want to eat black potatoes.”

“Hawawa~ Where are my bandages?!” the last person was rummaging through all cupboard to find their bag.

“Did you looked in the bathroom?”

“Uwagh! Hot! Hot! Hot!” the singing person blew at her hand. A silver wrapping and potato laid on the dusty floor, answered all questions lurking in their minds. “Ibuki got burned!”

“So it’s true that your kind is afraid of fire?~” mocked the same person that a second ago was dancing happily.

“Ibuki doesn’t know. You have to ask Taeko-chan.”

“I-I found t-them!” a stuttering voice announced as its owner run into the room with a black, medical bag. “H-Hang in there, M-Mioda-san.”

“Kyachahaha! Hang the witch! And her pig too!”

“Hiyoko!”

“Ugh!” person caring a bag winced “M-Me too?”

“Well, maybe later.” head of a snarky person turned to the side so fast that their hair jumped to their other arm. “You’re pretty useful sometimes.”

“Ouch! Ibuki’s hand hurts even more now!” injured girl looked with sadness at the nearby suitcase. “She won’t play mandolin or banjo~”

“That’s a punishment for putting your hand where you shouldn’t.”

“Uhuhu...Punishment, huh?” their medical expert in the blink of an eye stopped wrapping cloth around burned hand and with a glazed eyes and creepy expression looked into a distance. Her chest was rising and falling in uneven breathing. Her cheeks gained some red and a string of saliva left her mouth, dripping at her exposed breast. “Aha. Haha. Hahaah.”

“Uwah, Big Sis!” with a scarred voice the one that was the most rude run towards the kindest of them. “Sis Tsumiki got weird again!”

“Shhh! It’s okay.” The kind person lightly stroked fair hair of hugging her girl. “Mikan-chan, Ibuki-chan still needs help.”

“Ah, does she?” she tilted her head with a wide grin. One look on her face was enough to tell she was in another world, somewhere deep inside her head. “I don’t know that~ Maybe if we left it like that and let it rotten it’ll be better~ Huh?”

“Mikan-chan is a creep!” the girl caught between her arms cried out. This seemed to wake her up from her state.

“Ah! I’m sorry! I-I’ll end it soon!”

“Hey, Mahiru-chan!” the injured girl almost jumped on her heels. “Doesn’t Ibuki looks like Makoto-chan? She has dressing like him! Or her?” she tilted her head and wrinkles creeped on her forehead. “Makoto-chan is a guy, right?”

“He has the same body as _Him_ so, duh! He’s a dude.” a fair haired girl almost spit the answer out. “Big Sis, when we’re going on an action? It’s boring here!”

“First, we need to wait for a signal that  _he_ made a move. Unless we confirm that Naegi Makoto escaped we should just focus on our other goal. Which is, second, continue search of the Doors and a way to possess them.”

“Can Ibuki go out?” ignoring situation around, colorful girl begged red-haired girl with a puppy eyes. They had their effect even if her left cheek beared symbol of a witch. “It’s super-extra-special boring in this basement!”

“Ahh” red-haired girl sighed deeply, like a mother dealing with her overactive children. “Okay, we can go out tomorrow. No one visits this place anyway.”

“M-M-May I a-also join Mioda-san?”

“Eh? Ugly pig wants to leave her lair?”

“Yes, yes you can too, Mikan-chan.”

 

~*~

 

“I would like to propose something.” Naegi raised his hand as he took a place in the middle of the room. Togami and Kirigiri looked at him over their cups of coffees and chess game.

“What is it?” asked Kuzuryuu as he tried to rub off his face a remnants of cookies.

“I would like to go back to the residence of my ceremony.”

Three gazes crossed each other in the room. Kirigiri picked it up as a silent warning but couldn’t quite piece of what. Without letting it get to him, Naegi continued.

“I found this necklace there” Naegi grabbed silver chain hanging around his neck and waved with a tiny bottle at its end. “and I thought that maybe we can find some clues in mansion. It’s worth giving a shot.”

“...”

“Or not, I guess?”

“You’ll need a permission” Togami sipped his coffee and moved one of figure. “This place is now under Future Foundation supervision since the last...incident.”

“Oh, okay.”

Kirigiri ignored the whole conversation and only moved another piece with a sight.

“Hmph, what’s with this face?” Togami adjusted his glasses before speaking. “I can let you go there but first I need you to perform a simple job for me. Bishop captures knight.”

“Pawn captures rook.”

“Tch.” silver-haired butler pushed into Naegi’s hands a bunch of files. Her face still hold an evidence behind mysterious disappearing of cupcakes - a pink and yellow frosting. “Look at this file. It should provide you with enough information.”

“Checkmate.”

“Tch. You were lucky.”

With a smug smile Kirigiri stood up and looked over Naegi’s shoulder. A photographies of disturbing corpses - missing limbs, parts of torso, messily sliced up throats and all, without an exception, with a face marked by a scratches that resembled claws. On some blood was black, on some bright red. Clothes in shreds belonged to both man and women, noble and poor, old, young and children. The first wave of nausea filled Naegi, leaving a bitter taste on his tongue. Kirigiri wasn’t shaken at all by it, her eyes started to analyze content of the pictures.

“Since a month we have a problems with murders in a closeby town.” a porcelain cup clung when it got placed down on the saucer. “Evidence points to a work of Chain. I want you to get rid off of it.”

“Wait, Togami!” tanned girl that only now came back from a toilet, and got to hear only the end of this conversation, yelled with aggression. It was still enough to get a glimpse of a whole picture. “You can’t send them on the mission!”

“Yes, I can. Look how I do it.” she pushed Naegi behind, leaning over Togami, mainly thanks to her heels. Kirigiri noticed a twitch of tanned, right hand, as if its owner was ready to punch someone.

“I’m with Syren.” Kuzuryuu took his place next to the girl, despite his height, obscuring Naegi the view. “I don’t want to send rockies there and you know what they can see in such place.”

“The sooner the better.” nonchalant answer with a dignited sip of coffee rebutted their words. Togami had way to much fun with this banter than he let it be seen or at least Kirigiri thought so.

“You know what-”

“They should see a possibility.”

“But-”

“And our Doll can apparently make the job easier.” Togami’s eyes dug holes in Kirigiri, or rather half of her face that he saw between two of his subordinates. “She lived in the Abyss, it holds no secrets behind for her. It’ll help residents. Plus” this time he pointed at Naegi’s standing up strand of hair. “she may serve as a bodyguard to our little bait over here.”

“It’s not chess! Don’t treat people as your paws.”

“You had nothing against when you joined my branch.”

“Peko, back me up!” when lost, children calls their parents; in Kuzuryuu’s case it was always his butler. She turned her cold gaze towards them.

“It’ll be best if they’ll see what they’re getting into.” she finally answered.

“Peko!”

“We should be sincere with them and follow our objective” the butler made her presence from the corner of the room visible for everyone. “don’t you agree, Syren? You should understood it too, Young Master.”

“But…”

“I always tells you have too weak heart for this job.”a week smile graced her lips, one of those that don’t reach eyes. “You should have quit when you had a chance.”

“Well, neither of us did.” Syren looked at Togami with flaming anger in her eyes. “Okay, I let you do it this time, but I’m going with them.”

“...Do what you want. I’ll be considerate and give you a free hand.”

Naegi and Kirigiri didn’t even tried to say a word during this three way conversation that could be as well discussion or quarrel. They only jumped with their eyes from one person to the other - like during badminton game where words took a role of ball.

“Then it’s settled. You two” tanned girl turned to them with a bright smile. “go get the bath. We’ll prepare you new clothes.”

“Clothes?”

“What? You wanted to walk around in _this?”_ Togami treated the last word like a curse. “I’ll sooner spend an hour in one room, alone, with my butler than let you walk around like this. Ugh!” some sort of grimace that Naegi and Kirigiri had problem placing graced his features. “Get them out of my sight!”

 

***

 

“Mister, would you like to buy a flower?”

A soft, feminine and a bit timid voice pulled Naegi back to reality. He simply sat down on one of many boxes waiting for girls to come back. Kirigiri got herself lost in a crowd and a tanned girl, that everyone called Syren, went after her.

Normally you would wonder why did she allowed it? Leaving Naegi alone is a foolish idea. Not only he’s a noble son, which means that he’s face is known, but also he just so happen to be listed missing/dead. Why wasn’t she concerned then? Well, she made sure that he’ll put a hood on his head. Togami’s plans run ahead and he prepared clothes for him that wouldn’t catch anyone's attention. Naegi still had shorts, which in some way hurt him deeply, this time in black color. White shirt with stand-up collar had puffs at the end of sleeves. New waistcoat was green with ivy design, a tone darker than a fabric, and red trimm. Naegi was sure that attached to it hood was a wild idea of Togami’s personal designer but apparently it was a latest fashion that he somehow missed. He still had his green foulard around neck with attached family crest and a new necklace dangled around his neck. He offered it to Kirigiri but she dismissed it claiming that it gives her weird vibes.

“Hmm?”

“Ah! I’m sorry. I asked if you wanted to buy a flower.”

Naegi looked at a fragile flower seller. She had a big hazel eyes and short, light-brown, layered hair. She reminded him of a frightened rabbit. Her brown skirt and green blouse with certain had seen better days. Dirt lingering on her face was a clear evidence of a hard day.

“Naegi!” as he heard his name he turned his head at the source. Syren was approaching him with Kirigiri by her side. “I found our lost princess.”

“I wasn’t lost.” disclaimed Kirigiri with a huff. “I simply stay to look at one cafe and you missed it.”

“Most people calls that getting lost.” Naegi turned back to the seller. “Do you have any roses?”

“O-Oh! Yes!” seller rummaged through her wares before pulling out two dog roses, that resembled cherry flowers in Naegi’s mind, and pink damask one that looked like they were made out of crepe paper. “W-Which one?”

“What are you doing?” Kirigiri tilted her head with a questionable look.

“I’ll take this one.” Naegi took damask rose and placed two copper coins into girls hand. “Thanks!”

“N-No problem.” girl thanked him with a blush and put money into an almost empty bag attached to her hip.

“Here.” Naegi placed flower in Kirigiri’s braid. Thanks to his new shoes, that went with a reasonable high heels, he didn’t had to stand too much on his toes. Kirigiri caressed flower with her fingers as if it truly was made out of a paper. “You call yourself ‘Rose’ but you don’t have any of them on you. Since you don’t want this necklace back I thought that, maybe, you would prefer it like that.”

“...” with a rosy cheeks she turned her eyes away.

“What a womanizer, you are.” commented Syren, her voice tired and disgusted.

“Thank you.” whisper-like Kirigiri. “I appreciate that.”

After this display of flirtiness Syren grabbed both of them by hand, dragging them away to their inn. A little flower seller tilted her head to the side, digesting the very scene in front of booth.

 

“NiCe smEll. SmELls GOoD.”

“Do you want to eat him?”

“No. NoT hIM. Her. She woULd give ME poWEr. ShE smells GOod.”

“Wait till night.”

“DoLL. I want TO eat dOLl.”

 

“Why do you go after illegal contactors?” Kirigiri caressed glass of the window with her gloved hand, observing intensifying rain outside.

“What do you mean by ’why’?” asked dumbfounded Syren, brushing her brown hair in front of mirror.

“I don’t know what Chains does to you. I’m curious as to why you hunt them.”

“You don’t know?” Syren’s eyebrows lifted up. She put down her hairbrush and turned around on chair. “You saw pictures, didn’t you?” Kirigiri nodded, slightly turning her head back. “That’s their doing. Chains consumes other people in order to gain more power.”

“For what?” asked Naegi from his bed, putting down a book. “Kirigiri-san had to ask me for a contract. What could normal people gain from...murders.”

“Changed past.” Syren took off her jacket and sit down on the other bed. “Chains tempts people with a power to change past, under condition that they became strong enough.”

“But, Kirigiri-san didn’t say a word about that.” Naegi looked to his right at lavender frame. “She just asked for a contract.”

“Yes” light hair waved as she nodded with her head. “I had no idea of such.”

“Huh? Really?” Naegi wasn’t sure if he heard a surprise or disbelief in Syren voice.

“How do you take care of them?” Kirigiri question seemed to cool down a temperature inside their shared room.

“We...kill them.”

“I see.” glowed hand cupped chin. “How do you know someone is a contractor?”

“It’s easy. They have an Incuse on their chest.” Syren eyebrows knitted in worry as she pointed at Naegi. “You also had one. Bandages hidden it earlier but you should be able to see it now.”

“Hmm?” Naegi opened his waistcoat, loosen foulard and undone three buttons to see his chest. There, on the left breast, a symbol that resembled a black sun rays decorated his chest.

“This works as a clock. When it gets full, you’ll go back into the Abyss.”

“Hmm.” Kirigiri leaned over to get a better angle on his chest. Some inside prudency made Naegi jump and cover it quickly with his shirt. “Sorry.” she added after looking at his red face.

“Okay, enough of bedtime stories.” Syren clasped with her hands. “Go to bed. And don’t you think I’ll let you two sleep together. Kirigiri-chan, come here.”

 

~*~

 

A metallic smell of blood dwelled through the air from the stained floors, walls and carpets of the residence, where a remains of what was once their residents lay, with their limbs strew around in a weird fashion.

“How was it?” asked a person in long, dark cape that hide not only their face but also worn out clothes. “Was this enough?”

A person wasn’t given an answer but a sulking noise echoed in almost empty, if not for a furniture and paintings, corridor. A creature that looked similar to caterpillar but with four rows of triangular, sharp teeth sucked of the last of a landlord. Few droplets that fell from them soaked into the yellow carpet. A lighting stroke outside the window, reflecting in big, hazel eyes.

“NOt yeT! Not yET! I need HER! I nEED TO eat DOll…”

“You’ll get her soon. Come on, get out. Police can come here any moment.”

They turned around, leaving behind a massacred bodies. An eight meters long caterpillar followed after, waiting impatiently for the next meal.

“I don’t have much time left.”

 

~*~

 

Kirigiri shook Naegi’s arm, hoping that it awakens him. Her efforts were sadly futile, since Naegi apparently seemed to be in strong relationship with sleep. When a gentle approach didn’t bear her any fruits she took a drastic ones - which meant pouring a water on his face. Naegi sit up on the bed with a surprised inhale.

“Huh?”

“Come with me.” Kirigiri declared as she took his wrist, nearly removing bandages, and pulled him out of sheets.

“Why?” Naegi may have been awaken, but his voice was still raspy from leftovers of beautiful sleep full of gold.

“I want to investigate something.” she answered matter of fact as she closed doors to their shared room, cutting off snoring of the left there resident.

“Why now?” Naegi looked out the window on the far end of wooden corridor. “It’s raining and pitch-black.”

“...”

“Shouldn’t we woke up Syren-san at least?”

“I don’t trust her.” Kirigiri crossed arms over her chest. “She works for Togami and I still don’t know what he wants.”

“The same what Red Cloaks wants.” absent-mindly replied Naegi, at the last second deciding to not turn it into the question.

“And what is that what Red Cloaks wants?” Kirigiri face could be still but an annoyance in her voice was clear like a mountain creek.

“...I don’t know.” he rubbed his eye, letting go of the lasts of sleep. “I hoped that you may know it.”

“I only know that they live pretty long and each of them has own Chain. And that all of them are interested in you, for some reason.”

“Well, I think I know how to find out why.”

“Hmm?” Kirigiri’s eyebrows rose up slightly with curiosity.

“When I lost conscious I had a weird vision.” Kirigiri didn’t say a word but tilted her head slightly, losing a bit of her previous curiosity. “I can’t explain it well but there was a person that advised me to look through your memories because answer to my sin lies there.” Kirigiri slightly lifted up corners of her lips. “And Cloaks send me to the Abyss because of my sin. If we find out what it is-”

“Is that why you’re helping me?” purple eyes dwelled holes in Naegi’s face, tearing it apart. “To find your sin?”

“Huh? I’m giving back a favor.” Naegi simply smiled in response. “You helped me get out of the Abyss and protected from a Chain. Helping you like that is the least I could do. And I know it sounds bad that I also have other profits” he scratched his cheek nervously “but even without them, I would help you.”

“Why?”

“Hmm? Because I want?” he send her a sheepish smile. “Sorry, I don’t have more specific answer.”

“Is that so?” Kirigiri turned around on her heels. “Then get dressed and come with me to investigate before rain wash away all evidences.”

Ten minutes later they walked down the streets under the same umbrella, observing how pouring from the sky water created pools and filling holes of road and pavement. The only sound between them were their breaths and water that would hit windows, umbrella or roofs.

“Emm, what are we searching for?” asked with reserve Naegi, afraid that he could say something stupid and embarrass himself even further this evening.

“I smelled here today something familiar.” came answer. Naegi waited a whole minute but nothing more leaved her lips.

“I don’t understand.”

“Think about it” she fastened her steps and thanks to her long legs Naegi almost got left behind. He had to run to keep up with her, not to mention staying under umbrella. “where did I spend my whole life?”

“In the Abyss.”

“Why did I say it was familiar?”

“Because...you smelled it in the Abyss?”

“That’s correct.”

“Do you think it’s Chain?”

“There is that option.” she nodded before abruptly turning left into a side alley, almost invisible between heavy wall of water.

“S-Slow down, Kirigiri-san! I don’t have as long legs as you.” pleaded Naegi when back of his waistcoat got wet, sticking to his body.

“Why formal?” she asked, suddenly stopping in her track before looking his direction. “The moment you learned my surname you quickly switched to using it. It’s the same with your acquaintances - you call them all with the honorifics. Why is that?”

“Etiquette.” even without moving a muscle an aura of disappointment reached Naegi. “You don’t probably know this but for us surnames are important. They classify us, connects to our titles. If they call you by surname then it must mean you were worth enough to have it. Poor farmers doesn’t have them.” her face was still, that didn’t changed but the air surrounding them got lighter, even if they still could smell the same soap as before.

“Is that so…” Kirigiri looked in front of them and squinted eyes. “Someone's there.” as if to confirm her words, a blurry image of brown boots trying to hide behind a pyramid of wooden chests got into Naegi’s eyesight. They walked slowly to the drenched boots. Its owner hesitantly looked up at the shadows befalling on them. Naegi’s heart skip a beat when he saw familiar hazel eyes.

“W-What do you want?” girl’s eyes looked around her tiny space between chests. “I would let you hide there but I’m afraid there’s not enough place for three people. Sorry.”

“You’re the flower seller from earlier.” Naegi pointed out, as his eyes looked over drenched and dirty clothes. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m...I’m hiding.” admitted girl. “My father...we had a fight. I run out of the house and...I don’t want to go back.”

Without warning Kirigiri crouched down, leaving Naegi to the mercy of the weather. Her nostrils dilated delicately and she slipped into a tiny space between chests and flower seller, who at this point had a color of her sold today rose. Naegi in a second took discarded black umbrella and crouched in front of two girls.

“Sorry for intruding.”

“Why did you fought with your father?” Naegi asked as politely as he could.

“Well, he works too much and I don’t like it.” she pulled from under her blazer out a pendant and flipped it open. A photo of pretty women with a long, light-brown ponytail and glasses was revealed to their eyes. “This is my mom. Since her death, he works twice hard. He’s an inventor.”

“I believe it must be tough.”

“Sometimes, but now he used to have more time to spend with me. We always eat supper together at least.” she smiled warmly with a gleam in eyes. Naegi’s heart responded for this with a flip. “I should apologize.”

“What’s your name?” Naegi asked with rosy cheeks.

“Fujisaki Chihiro, mister.” timidly answered girl and Naegi’s heart again danced inside his chest.

_She has a surname but she sells flowers and wears this ragged clothes? Maybe her family lost all fortune._

“Do you know what Abyss is?” till this time silent Kirigiri asked. Fragile girl looked her way with flustered expression.

“Hmm? Something from an old fairytale?”

“Hmm~” Kirigiri sneezed light-brown hair, startling tiny girl in a limited space the chests were providing.

“Hey, Kirigiri-san! What are you doing?”

“Naegi” Kirigiri looked at him, her voice low and serious. “this person reeks of the Abyss.”

“What?!”

Before more of this conversation could be revealed, a cry spread throughout the town. All three of them turned their heads at the sound, catching a last seconds of existence of a small church which remains now were floating their way. Naegi abandoned his umbrella and pulled two girls by their hands and started to run. Part of a wall destroyed their previous room, creating a huge hole in the sidewalk.

“Chain?!”

“Get to the inn and call Syren for a help!” Kirigiri pulled her hand out of his grasp. “I’ll take the other road!”

“But-”

“It chases me.” Kirigiri took a street on left. A bunch of bricks missed her by an inch. “I can hold it off but I won’t be able to finish it off.”

“Why?”

“My powers are sealed!” Before more could be said a large creature that could pass for a caterpillar cried again, smashing another building with its abdomen. “Go!”

“Got it!” Naegi clutched harder tiny hand of flower seller and run the other way. Kirigiri stopped and faced the creature.

“Human language can’t express how much disgust I feel right now, Eruca.”

“DOLL!” a creature, Chain, cried. “Doll! Eat, DOLL!”

 

***

 

“W-What happened there?” tiny girl, Fujisaki as Naegi’s brain provided, asked frightened. She was already out of breath even if they couldn’t run more than a two streets.

“A Chain attacked.” Provided Naegi before turning harshly to the right. “We need to stop it from going rampage.”

“Chain?”

Before more could be answered Naegi reached inn and opened harshly doors, startling the sleeping receptionist. His steps run through an empty corridor. Without hesitation he pulled door open. Syren was sleeping peacefully, if wrapped in sheet in a weird pose could be named peaceful.

“Syren-san! Wake up!”

“Ah~ I can’t~ eat more donuts~Ah, strawberry one~”

“Syren-san!” Naegi shoke with tanned girl. She eventually lifted one eyelid.

“...egi?” her voice cracked as she sat on the bed. “What happened?”

“Chain! It appeared in the town! It destroys-”

“Eh?” she looked at him then at standing in the door wet girl. In a second daggers were not in her shoes but eyes. “Naegi, you awful womanizer!”

“I-It’s not like this!” argued boy, by millimeters avoiding flying his way pillow. “I had to take here as far as I could!”

“Where’s Kirigiri-chan?”

“She’s holding off a chain. I hope she’s alright.”

Syren pulled on shorts and jacket the fastest it could be possible. As she was tying her knee-length shoes, her voice tried to calm down shivering little girl.

“I know you’re scared. Trust me, I seen lots of this things. Stay here and don’t go outside.”

“My dad…” girl started to sob as she fell to her knees. “His workplace is there.”

“We’ll save your dad.” Naegi placed his hand on shaking shoulder. “I promise.”

“...okay.” Fujisaki sneezed one more time before looking hopeful at both of them. “Okay.”

“Let’s go, Naegi!”

“Yeah!”

Contractors are linked with their Chain, so they can feel each others presence. Following this rule, and a huge amount of destroyed buildings with battle cries, they reached Kirigiri - at her best trying to destroy Chain in front of her.

“Haha~ Go forward! Consume her!” a malice, deranged voice yelled at the top of the lungs. When Naegi and Syren finally could see a figure, Kirigiri jumped back to stay in line with them.

“I believe that this person is Contractor.”

“What are we going to do?” Naegi asked, bending forward. As for one night he definitely had too much exercise.

“We have to kill them.” came from whitened lips of Syren.

“What?! Why?”

Before more could be provided Syren pulled out two knives and rushed forward. For a short second, when a lighting crossed sky face of contractor was visible. A brown hair and glasses, a fair-skinned man in a stained clothes. It didn’t took Naegi long to connect all dots.

“That’s Fujisaki-san’s father…”

“I think so too” Kirigiri nodded. “That explains why she had that smell on herself.”

“We can talk him down!” Naegi exclaimed. Kirigiri only send him a skeptical look.

“And what it would achieve?”

“He wouldn't have to die!” and before more could be explained, Naegi dashed forward. By some sort of miracle he reached man, too focused on screaming orders to his Chain.

“You’re Fujisaki Chihiro father?”

“Chihiro?” his head turned at the young boy. “You know my child?”

“She’s worried about you.” Naegi got even closer, ignoring Syren warnings - still trying to cut through caterpillar creature. “She wants to spend more time with you! If they catch you as a Contractor you won’t see each other! Why did you done all of this?! Why are you murdering people?!”

“To change past!” man yelled with desperation. “Because of my stupidity I lost all fortune and titles. Not long after my wife died. If I’ll change past, my beautiful child will be happy!”

“Spend more time together!”

“Naegi?” both girls lifted their eyebrows in shock for his sudden outburst.

“She doesn’t care about fortune and titles! She just wants to talk with you!

“She?”

“The happiest thing for her would be if her father simply acknowledged that she’s here!”

It is unknown if the man understood what was told to him or if he repented his sins. Maybe he understood his mistakes but it remained a mystery, hidden inside his mind. In the blink of an eye a large hole opened under his feet, with a purple mist around swallowing him inside like a swamp. A light emitted from his left breast and when he parted his shirt the source of it was nothing other than a Incuse with fully colored round disk.

“No. No! NO! Not yet! No!” man yelled as his body got more and more swallowed down. “I didn’t done anything for my child!” Only his shoulders and head were visible above the hole.

“No, help me! Please!” he reached with his hand but before Naegi could grab it, Kirigiri caught him from behind - thus holding in place. Neither of them cared about the disappearing Chain, almost invisible at this point.

“Help me!” and with this words man perished, leaving behind only gold pendant with a photo of happy family inside. A large droplet of rain soon wrinkled it and became the only sound.

“Kyachacha~ Well done, well done!” a high-pitched voice and sound of snipping blades reached their ears.

“Hello, Touko-chan.” Syren greeted girl with ruffled braids and torn clothes and for some reason sticked out tongue.

“Oh? Isn’t that my favorite cow? Don’t you have a shame?! Your clothes are see through! Is this your new tactic to get to Byakuya-sama? huh? Huh?”

“Tell him that everything went smoothly.”

“Of course I will! You’re lucky you managed it all or I would slice you up! Joking! I wouldn’t dirtied my scissors with a blood of someone like you!”

 

***

 

A back trip in coach was a silent fest. If Naegi couldn’t stop himself from talking and Kirigiri would ask questions from time to time, now no one could utter a word, or a sentence that run through their heads.

“This person” Kirigiri eventually decided to fight with the aura, breaking the silence. “this is what happens when an Incuse gets full, right?”

“Uhum.” nodded in agreement Syren.”If this gets full, Contractor is swallowed into the deepest darkness of the Abyss. Some says that even excludes them from a one hundred years circle.”

“Is there a way to stop this?”

“If you kill Chain, contract is broken. Shouldn’t you know about this?”

“Naegi is my first Contractor.” Kirigiri’s face was stoic but she turned her gaze to the side, avoiding eye contact of sitting in front of her girl.

“That’s going to happen to me too, right?” Naegi asked with his forehead glued to the window.

“...Yes. Eventually.” said Syren in a sad voice. “Your tip didn’t move, which is good but we have no idea how long it’ll last like that.”

 

_A desire so strong to make one destroy themselves. I wonder, how many of people like this we’ll meet before I end up like them. Deep in the darkness of the Abyss, again, but this time with no one to save me._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus the faces behind Red Cloaks got reviled! Which one of you were right? Which one of you were wrong? Did you found a subtle foreshadowing? Who is the _he_ that girls mentioned?
> 
> Leave your theories in the comments below (if someone still remember it, that is...what? Me? Ashamed? Never! More guilty and embarrassed by not having enough time to write what I want (; ~~ ;) )
> 
> Till next time!


	4. Inner conflicts of lonely souls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M ALIVE AND I BRING THIS AS OFFERING
> 
> PLOT MOVES FORWARD  
> YOUR SHIPS HAS MOMENT  
> ONE NEW CHARACTER ADDED TO THE TAGS (DON'T LOOK YET, UNLESS YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT SURPRISES)
> 
> Also - can you find a foreshadowing for a new character for later in the story?

_It was a bright day, yet sunlight couldn’t pass through thick curtains, peeking only through its holes at a tiny figure of a boy sitting on a way too big for him armchair with his knees pulled to his face. It wasn’t possible to tell the boy was crying, not even a single muscle of his body tried to tell that._

_“Young Master?” young girl with pinned up brown hair with hesitation touched his arm. “Is something wrong?”_

_“Tell me” boy hugged his knees even closer to his chest, as if trying to become as little as possible “why everyone hates me?”_

_“Huh?” irises of blue eyes widened in shock but little’s boy head didn’t looked up to witness this._

 

Naegi woke up when carriage jumped on bumps along road. Water from their drenched clothes created big pool at their feet. Seeing this he immediately feel a need to apologise to a servant who will be assigned to clean this.

He looked around to see Syren and Kirigiri sleeping as well, both of them curled up with cheeks pushed against pillows. He was glad to have them by his side but at the same time it made him want to throw up. It wasn’t fair that he had someone by his side while this little flower seller just lost her parent.

 

~*~

 

Togami rummaged through a bunch of papers, ones for his family company and others for Future Foundation, as well as memos from his informator who he needs to pay a nice sum of money. It was in his best interest to hide the fact that Makoto of Naegis is apparently back, alive and well. Once he take over this organisation everything will change but he has to wait patiently now. As someone once said - patience yields focus.

“B-B-Byakuya-sama!” his doors opened with a creak. A head with awfully wet and disheveled hair peeked inside. “T-The big breast with d-daggers and her company i-is here.”

“Did they completed their job?”

“I-I-I wou-would let them near Byakuya-sama if they dare to fail!” Togami shoved a document in her direction without looking up from his work. His butler took it with eager, sneezing and hugging to her chest.

“Don’t drool on it.” Togami’s face screwed up as he imagined how she must look right now. “It’s a permission to enter mansion. Tell the worrying crybaby that they can go there tomorrow.”

“Y-Yes Byakuya-sama!” and with this she run down the corridor of his manor. For some reasons he felt shivers going down his spine, as if _someone_ imagined something perverted.

 

~*~

 

Naegi was sitting in front of fireplace, looking idly at the liking wood flames. Inside his head all sort of thoughts fought with others for dominations, leaving his usually smiling face bland.

“Naegi?” a soft feminine voice called him and porcelain-white face with wet, lavender hair peeked inside room.

“Kirigiri-san?” he forced himself to lift corners of his lips in a weak attempt to create smile. “What are you doing here?”

“You’re acting strange since since we came back.” she entered the room, only now showing that she was wearing just white shirt that reached only centimeters lower than her hair. “I wanted to check on you.”

“You were worried?” Naegi’s eyebrows shot up in puzzlement. “About me?”

“I’m not as cold-hearted as you take me for.”

“...sorry.” he send her apologetic smile but was pretty sure that she didn’t bought it. “I appreciate your concern.”

“You know there was no way to save this man.” Kirigiri crossed arms over her chest. Her hands still were in gloves but this time white and silk. Naegi decided to turn his head back at the fireplace. “He only had choice of entering Abyss dead or alive.”

“Hmm?” the sound he created wasn’t meant to be a question of ‘really?’’ or ‘are you sure?’. If anything it was saying ‘so that how it was’ searching unknowingly for confirmation as it stretched.

“You don’t have to beat yourself over it.”

“I made a promise.” he hugged his knees closer to his chest. “I promised Fujisaki-san that I’ll bring her father back.”

“...”

“Yet, I couldn’t do this.” he heard Kirigiri rummaging through cupboard, searching something. Probably dry clothes taking in consideration the rustle. “I couldn’t fulfil my promise. We left her to deal with all of this for herself. She has no one to talk to now.”

“...” Kirigiri’s hands halted for the second as the familiar, cold feeling risen in her chest. Like a slope of ice picking from inside her chest followed by a hollow, black darkness. Quiet that’s never stopped even by an echo. “I think I get what you mean.”

“You do?” he heard as something soft hit floor and following it flutter.

“To be honest, I don’t care what happens to her.” a soft pressure at his back awoke Naegi from his malaise. He risked looking behind his shoulder to see Kirigiri wrapped in sheet with her back pressed against his. Her wet hair lingered to her face, neck and his clothes. “But, I too know how cold it is when you are lonely.” her eye fluttered, eventually closing itself. “Even Chains can feel loneliness.”

“I’ve never doubted that.” he assured her turning his head back, trying not to stare at the girl.

“I never was like the rest of them.” Kirigiri admitted, hiding her frame more inside warm sheet. “I always were able to tell that there was something off about them, but couldn’t piece what. Until I realized that the only one that was off - was me.” she stole quick glimpse at Naegi before again she closed her eyes, remembering the feeling of detachment that made home inside her since that day. “It can really get lonely when you are one of a kind.”

“And everyone avoids you.” added Naegi, to which Kirigiri hummed in agreement. Even through her sheet she felt single wave of shivers going down Naegi’s spine. “Loneliness...is scary.”

“I don’t think so.” she contradicted him with a smile.

“Hmm?” he hummed and this time it was asking.

“I’m not scared of loneliness, I’m used to being alone. It’s not pleasant but I can manage it.” her head moved to the side, pulling back some of dump hair off Naegi’s neck. “But I’m scared of the reason that makes them avoid me. Why am I so different from the rest.” she stopped, but he could feel the unspoken words here.

“There’s more to it, right?” he didn’t wanted to pry. He just asked, leaving her an open door. If she wanted, she could go in there or ignore it.

“Maybe I’m also scared of myself, because I can’t understand who I am.” answer was so timid and unsure that it tighten Naegi’s inside. He only now realized that Kirigiri wasn’t simply this cool girl that sometimes could show her soft side. Deep inside she was just like him - scared of the words and things far too great too understand. But what made her different was that she was fighting and facing it with her head held up.

”Will you be mad if I ask you something?” a wild idea crossed his mind.

“Only if this is something perverted.”

“Why you always wear gloves?” at this question hand holding sheet tightened its grip.

“I don’t like showing my hands to a strangers.” Kirigiri simply answered in her stern voice that he was so used to hear.

“Oh. So I’m still a stranger, huh?”

“I’m not exactly sure but I think I promised myself to show them only to the ones I fully trust.”

“So, that means you don’t trust me.”

“I believe that you may be worth of my trust but I want to wait and see if I’m right.” a small smile danced on her lips. “I’m sure that I trust you more than anyone in this building but it’s not like you’re my family.”

“Then...will you show me them one day?”

“Do you volunteer to become my family?” she mocked, with even bigger smile.

“Ha-hah?! Wha?! I-It’s?!”

“I’m joking.” She hit him with the back of her head. “I’m not saying no. One day, maybe.” Naegi lifted his left hand, stretching his little finger.

“That’s a promise then.” Kirigiri’s blank face for a second screwed up before her eyes lit up. The hand hidden between wrinkles of sheet got out to slowly get closer to Naegi’s, intertwining their little fingers.

“If one is to broke it” Naegi sing-sang pulling up and down their hands “they’ll have to swallow a thousand needles.”

“Why?”

“Why? It’s just what we say when we make a pinky promises.”

“I would prefer for a liar to cut off the tip of their finger.”

“Scary!”

“Naegi, are you in the-” Syren opened door, only to jump up in embarrassment at the picture in front of her that was a pair two teenages, one mostly naked, smiling foundly at eachother with the light of fireplace giving them delicate shadows. “I’m sorry! Wait! What are you doing in there, Kirigiri-chan?!”

“Talking with Naegi.”

“You have room at the other end of corridor.”

“Do you have any reason for coming here?” Kirigiri stood up from her place on floor, taking two step forward.

“I just...I just wanted to tell you that we’re going tomorrow to the mansion. ”She lifted her hand that hold rolled document. “Togami pushed some contacts and we got a permission.”

“That’s good to hear.” Naegi smiled in response. “I have to thank him for this.”

“I can assure you that he’s not doing it without purpose.” Syren gaze turned at the Kirigiri. “You coming or staying here?”

“I believe I don’t need your permission to leave this room.”

“Yeah, right.” nonetheless, Kirigiri walked past her into the corridor lighten up only by few candles.

“Naegi” Syren called with weak voice. The boy looked at the tanned girl in the door frame. “are you alright?”

 

_Blue eyes, like a lake covered with ice. Brown hair and tanned skin. She looks like Asahina-san, even more when she has worried face like this. She’ll probably look like this in the next 10 years._

 

“Why do you ask?”

“Earlier...I know that what you witnessed...may shock you. No, It definitely shook you. You don’t see thing like this every day.” nervous laugh escaped from Syren that seem to really startle her. “What I want to say is probably...if you want to talk about it-”

“Syren-san” Naegi stood up from the floor, turning fully in her direction “thank you, it’s alright. I was only a bit shocked, that’s all.”

“You sure?”

“Yes, absolutely.” to convince her more he send her one of his reassuring smiles.

“Okay, then” she backed off from a door. “Goodnight. Don’t sit here too long.”

And with this she went to her room, a weight on her shoulders didn’t seem to get any lighter. Around the corner, where he wouldn’t be able to see her, Syren legs gave out and she slumped to the ground with only her right arm supporting her by holding some decoration on the wall. Her eyes got itchy but she was sure that she won’t cry. A straight line of light crossed darkness of corridor and when she lifted her head, a tiny frame of Kuzuryuu was suddenly in front of her. He wasn’t Togami, she never felt any kind of mocking coming from him. He was sympathetic, nice, even when he was trying to hide it under a mountain of curses.

“I fucking told you that’ll hurt like a bitch if you won’t admit it.”

It wasn’t different this time too.

 

~*~

 

Naegi picked from inside the carriage at the Syren and two guards. Because words about his survival still, somehow, didn’t reached anyone outside Togami’s mansion, he had to hide this fact as much as possible. He wasn’t one to complain about it. Was he feeling silly and immature? Yes. Did this remind him about his childhood and brighten up mood? Double yes. Kirigiri, on the other hand, ignored everything he was doing, drinking coffee (which she got great liking to, claiming to be the best thing on the earth) while tapping impatiently with her foot.

“I don’t get humans.” she sipped more of her coffee. “So many secrets and so much documents.”

“You don’t have secrets in the Abyss?”

“Well, Chains aren’t exactly buddy-buddy.” she send him deadpanned look. “Most of the time we simply fight or argue.” exhausted sight escaped from her mouth but she still made a comment before another sip. “And we don’t have six different type of furlough to pass from one place to another.”

“You don’t have friends there?” Naegi turned back to look at her from his crouched position next to the door.

“No.” she simply answered, looking at the Syren talking with the guards. One of them laughed, probably at the joke that the women said.

“That’s awful.” Naegi stretched his legs on the carriage floor. “I would love to introduce you to Asahina-san.”

“That maid of yours?”

“Don’t say it as an insult.” Naegi asked with troubled face. “Yes, she works as my maid but she also was with me since almost the very beginning.” his eyes became distant as he looked in the past of his memories. “We grew up together and always played around with Komaru, my younger sister. She also would like you. I always felt bad that she doesn’t have many girl friends.” a memory of three of them sneaking out to look at the meteor rain crossed his mind and a giant smile erupted on his face. “I think you would get along.”

“I think you shouldn’t making an assumptions that are unwilling to happen. You can’t meet with them, remember?”

“...yeah.”

“Okay, my darling lovebirds” Syren looked inside the carriage, giant smile on her lips. “We have five hours to look into every nook and cranny of this place without anyone attention.”

“Did it really have to take this long?” Kirigiri’s cup hit little table with bigger force than it was necessary and she walked past both of them, hurriedly walking towards the gate.

“What did you do?” Syren accusing tone was more than enough to send-guilt Naegi.

“I’m...not sure.”

“Tch. Boys.” she jumped down from two steps of carriage and went after Kirigiri. “Remember to put a hood on.”

Naegi didn’t need to be told that twice, beside the hood was cute. So he pulled it on and once again stood in front of the gates to the mansion where it all started. The ivy, not as green as he was remembering it, was climbing up on the walls as if it wanted to touch the sky above and almost did so with its unkeep twigs. Few bunch the purple grapes visible through a nooks, if you looked close enough waved him hello as he was getting closer. He had to admit that iron looked a lot more rusty from this side than the inside. Could it be that it was harder to maintain it from the outside? But there wasn’t any street that would point at this, only wild forest.

He passed past the guards mumbling greetings, which they dismissed with a wave of hand. Police here really didn’t care about their work that much, except for paperwork. His childhood image of a proper policemen just got ruined.

Insides didn’t impress him again as it did previously. He already saw vast greenery decorated with flowers, although he would swear that last time there were a lot less of it. Lake didn’t looked as majestic, covered in leaves and just now he realised how sapless the willow looks. It could be a reason why the ground collapsed under him few days ago. And the hole was still here, reminding how it all began. Unconsciously he gripped his injured hand. Scar from the thorn, reminder of his time here, was still there.

 

~*~

 

Kirigiri always was ready to investigate, that was part of her nature. Even back in the Abyss she was examining everything she could, always hoping that she’ll find a clue to her past. No one could simply awake in the sea of darkness with a trought:

“I’m Kyouko, Doll of Bloody Roses.”

And nothing more. There had to be something more to her. Something that she would grap to and hold. Something that would make her... _Her._

 _Are you sure that something like this exist?_ a deep voice, devoured of any emotions asked. It didn’t belonged to this word, which was why she heard it inside her head.

“Of course I am.” she answered without batting an eye, walking fast past over-decorated room.

 _And what proof tells you that._ Even if sentence had point of being question, it sounded like statement, like a person saying something while already knowing answer.

“Are you spying on me again?” she asked while examining one of the painting. Painted there brunet with sad eyes apparently didn’t had anything to hide.

 _You don’t have a proof, am I wrong?_ she could almost feel like this person, or more accurately - being, tilts their head and squint eyes - like a cat that’s playing with mouse, all well knowing how it all will end. _Just a hunch. That’s boring._

“Quiet.” her fingers tightened around one of vase with painted rosy rabbits.

_A poor child, walking in the mist after blue light that they for sure saw._

“Quiet.” a veins popped up on her skin, a sign of transformation into her other form.

_Only to sink in the mud under their feet._

_“_ Quiet.” her hand gripped with too much force, crushing in the result porcelain vase. Insides painted in gold reflected the afternoon sun and dust danced in the air. A tiny, golden lights twirling around her.

 _You are just like this child._ she more felt than hear them sighting. _What a boring tale._

“I’m not.”

_What makes you different?_

“I’m-”

 _Different from the other chain?_ they asked. She was sure that if they stood in front of her, they would lifted up their eyebrows on a otherwise scowled face. _How? Because your contractor’s incus isn’t getting full?_ she run towards massive door, pulling them open with a force. _Or because you never ate human?_ the other room welcomed her with dust and giant table. _Or maybe because you have two names and forms?_ she ignored the voice, as she picked one of the silver plate. Her porcelain white, anxious face reflected back. _Because you act more as a human than any of them?_

“...” she didn’t answer, only bit her lower lip as she put plate back into its place.

_In the end you know what you are._

“Shut up.”

_A failure that wasn’t supposed to be here._

“Shut up.”

 _I can always end it for you._ voice sweet like a honey offered. But she also knew how dense honey could be. _Simply admit your desires. Say what you want._ at this she smiled, knowing a perfect answer that would silence them once and for all.

“I want you to stop meddling in my minds and to find my lost memory.”

_What if that memory that you’re searching for isn’t even yours? What if it belongs to someone else? Another child searching for the blue light?_

_“...”_

_That boy has friends, this other people also. They can assure their existence. What about you?_ she ignored them, looking through dusty book on a shelfs. _You always been boring being that never had anyone. Do you think that finding this memory of yours will help you find one?_ the voice, she imagined, should chuckle at this moment. Yet the owner wasn’t of ones that did so. _You truly are more human than you let on._

“Isn’t this how you created me?” she said it with a triumphant smile, even if she was sure that they can’t see her.

 _Another toy whose purpose is to entertain me. A broken doll that can’t even do that._ another sight. She was already fed up with them. _I had a feeling that it would turn out like this but I’m still disappointed._

“...huh?” that took her of guard. They never would admit something like this, much less with a fondness in their voice.

_Someone I once knew would probably tell that “You’re just a Doll of Bloody Roses. An empty existence that will never gain anything.”_

“I feel sorry for this person.”

_This, I also knew._

“Huh?”

 _If you still want to find a piece of memory run behind a clock._ as they said it, they became distant, more out of reach. _You may find there something to your likeness._

“Are...you helping me?” surprisement in her voice could only match with Togami’s selfishness. “Why?”

_This person promised me an interesting tale. I was waiting hundred years for it to finally start._

“Hundred? Wait!” but it was too late, a mind connection already disappeared. “You always were a problematic being, Kamukura Izuru.” she sighted, just like them, and turned around on her feet. The new destination was ceremony hall.

 

Unknowingly to her, silver bells sang outside. It wasn’t unusual, yet everyone knew that silver bells never bring good news. Especially if they are carried by a women in eastern clothes, singing in a language that only few spoke here.

 

“Far away, in a hidden green meadow;

blossom flowers - prettier than any others.

The flowers there, purple, green and brown;

I’ll pick the prettiest ones for a crown;

Look, now all of them are dead;

but don’t you think, that they

look prettier while withered.”

 

A childish giggle ended the song along with a gracefully waved hand that hold stick decorated in silver bells and long, red ribbon.

“I wonder, how long it’ll take for this idiots to reach this place.”

 

While Kirigiri went on her own, having her own investigation, Naegi with Syren decided to check out the hole. This time they had enough time to get an actual ladder, so any worries of being stackdown couldn’t be born. And yet the searching duo could not find a single clue there. The grave was still old as this day and sculpted there name was unreadable. Soil was dry, so were roots and not a trace of the second necklace. Feeling beaten both went out, only to be greeted with the sound of silver bells.

“Are any performances in a nearby forest? Or a circus?” Naegi asked, looking to his side in hope of confirmation that his bad feeling was only lack of breakfast.

“...not currently.” came an answer that he was mostly expected but at the same time afraid of. “Someone must have sneaked in.”

A short look was exchanged, asking if they should go checking it out. The mutual understanding allowed it with a nod and both stealthily followed the sound and song. It was west part of mansion, the ceremony hall. Syren took out one of her daggers and shook her head. Naegi stayed behind as she swing open massive doors, entering inside with a cause.

Insides looked way different since Naegi last saw them. The rows of benches and chairs disappeared, leaving colourful mosaic on a floor visible for the eyes, hidden only by a dust that fly up with very step. Big clock in the back lay on the ground, its hands removed. One of windows was destroyed, where other hold breaks and cracks. Around the pillars grass showed from the between tiles.

_Was I...really out for a week. It looks like it was abandoned years ago._

But the state of a room was pushed back in his head when he spotted too familiar cloak in a color of blood.

“Finally! I was bored of just sitting here and waiting for you, dumbasses!” they called and Naegi without thinking grabbed his wrist. He remembered this mocking, childish voice. It was they who first hold him and then cast him to the Abyss.

“It’s you…”

“My, aren’t you smart, little boy.” the person pulled back their hood, showing blonde hair, fair lighter than the ones of Togamis clan or anyone he knew and so different from their queen, tied up into ponytail. Orange eyes looked back with disgust, like if she was constantly looking at ugly bug. She was pretty and very women-like, yet something hold back from calling her attractive.

“Naegi?” Syren looked to his side with a question in her eyes.

“She, together with another cloak casted me into Abyss.”

“Ugh, did you had to mention Pig?” girl abandoned her instrument to the floor, bells cried off tuned. “I was feeling just fine until now~”

“You!” Syren didn’t waited for a signal. She just readjusted her balance and throw her dagger. Without waiting for a second where it’ll strike she sprinted forward, ready to use the one hidden inside her shoes.

What surprised her was that the girl, athrought clumsy, managed to avoid blade and by falling to the ground caused incredible kick to miss. When a shock disappeared from her face, she pulled out from the sleeve of her strange, orange dress a two fans. And while Naegi was convinced it was stupid, the moment one of them grazed Syren left arm - damaging her jacket and sending few drops of blood to the ground - with a move worth of a dancer, he realized the true danger of her weapons. It wasn’t made of paper but a sharp metal tiles.

“Syren-san!”

“Huh? That’s your name now?” girl asked tilting her head to the side in the mocking manner. “You could choose anything and went with that?! You have taste at all!”

“Shut up!” Syren shouted, kicking blindly while holding injured arm.

“You couldn’t protected your Master ten years ago-”

“Silent!”

“And so can’t do it now!” a fan hit right thigh of Syren, who fell to the ground with a yelp. “But you are a lot more tough than you used to be. Last time a simple strike in the stomach was enough!”

_Last time? Strike? In the stomach?_

“What’s with that stupid look you have?” fair haired girl turned to him with a scowl. “You don’t try to tell me you have no idea who she is? Huh?!”

“Syren-san?”

“Geez, I’m surrounded by idiots!” She crossed her arm only to start perform some sort of dancing in front of him. As absurd as situation was, Naegi had to admit that it was splendid. “Once upon a time girl met a boy and became his servant. Then, when the Residents of Hope’s Peak came for him, she tried to save him. Not sure how, she wasn’t supposed to move!”

“Are you...speaking about Asahina-san?”

“But she was a wimp! Not able to save him! Pierced by a chain we send her way!” girl stopped her movements, tilting head in thought before continuing. “And I was the one who did that!”

“Wha-?”

“And there she is! Ten years later!” she pointed with one of her fans at wounded women. “Repeating the circle!” Naegi eyes darted to the figure. Dark, tanned skin, blue eyes always full of worry, long legs and muscular arms. His lips moved before his brain registered it.

“Asahina-san?”

_They look alike but that’s impossible. There’s no way Asahina would mature so much in just a week. Besides - Kuzuryuu-kun, except for a hairstyle looks the same. So does Pekoyama-san. But…_

_Togami-kun said he was the youngest of his House and I remember someone saying he was the same age as Komaru. Count Kizakura mentioned that he’s slightly older, he have a problems when it comes to years but he wouldn’t be off that much. And the mansion...it looks like it has been abandoned for years..._

“Bee-boo! You guessed right!” before more could be said girls moves were stopped. It wasn’t at her own will, seeing as she was struggling to set free. “Why did you came here, you ugly smelly pig?!”

“Ah~That brings back memories~” a new voice called out. Naegi gulped and turned around to see yet another cloak. He recognized this voice - it belonged to the one that was most unabashed from them, way too eager to kill him. “I loved being called it once, b-but I’m sure that s-someone awaits you. Someone that’s wo-worried about y-you.”

“...tch.” girl clicked her tongue in annoyance. “I’ll come back with you. I don’t want Big Sis to worry too much.” and with that the restrains holding her body disappeared.

“W-W-We will meet a-again.” stuttered out still hooded person, which shouldn’t sound so ominous but somehow did. As soon as two of cloaks left room Naegi run toward injured friend.

“Sy-um, Asahina-san. How it looks?” he kneeled next to the girl, trying to get the best look at her wounds.

“That’s just a scratch. It’ll heels in no time.” she said vaguely, avoiding his eyes. Naegi had many questions starting from ‘how’s that possible’ ending on ‘why didn’t you tell me’ but instand he chose to simply hug his old friend, without a care that it stains his clothes with blood.

“It’s good to have you back.” a hesitant hand touched his back, creating an awkward hug.

“It’s unfair. I should be the one saying it.”

 

~*~

 

Kirigiri witnessed only the end of the conversation and the hug. She put two and two together in no time. Abyss was a place out of time restrictions so it shouldn’t be surprising that more than few days parted Naegi’s last memories and current day.

Yet the only thing she did when she saw them was turning around on her heel and walk away. For some reason, she felt unnecessary and she wasn’t sure if that annoyed her or saddens.

_Told you, he has a friends that define him. You have no one to do so._

“...”

_You are too scared to face what you truly are. Like a trapped animal. Maybe you’re actually a rabbit, not a rose?_

“...”

_If you can’t face them now, what will you do when you find who you are?_

“...quiet.” demanded Kirigiri as she crouched on the floor clutching her head in hands, pulling by a strands of long hair.

_Admit it, you are scared of the truth. You are scared of what you are. You are scared of things that you do not understand - like this boy ability to trust in anyone despite all circumstances._

“...”

_You would already abandon this girl for lying but he forgave her, without even listening to her. He even trusted you, despite not having a reason to._

“...”

_You’re scared that you don’t understand it, but even more - that you may become like him._

“...!”

_But you don’t have to worry about it. You can just fall asleep and forget it all. Forget your quest, forget people you’ve met, forget all that’s scary._

“...” Kirigiri’s eyes got heavy and in no time her eyelids sealed as her body fell to the ground, never actually hitting it.

_Sweet dreams, Little Flower Lady. You have nothing to worry about anymore, My Little Rose...ah, I never knew which name you liked most. He sure came up with many._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens~  
> Okay, so another characters goes up into the tags. Which one of you was right? And which one of you can tell rest, mostly obvious, plot twists?  
> I've tried to make all mental conversation as creepy as possible but guess what? Now that I'm trying to read it it's not scary at all and just edgy. Urgh~  
> Wrapping up - enjoy the new chapter as I try to survive the next month (end of semester is such a b*tch not to mention that my work's killing me. It's the last time I'm agreeing to have only 12 hours long shifts. I need to hibernate...) before I'll fell free enough to get back to writing again.  
> Till next time~

**Author's Note:**

> Hello~ this is my new story but fret not! You don't need to know a thing about Pandora Hearts to understand it (but go read it! It's awesome)  
> I already have few chapters written so it shouldn't take too long to edit them and post here. Also, yes someone will die but I won't tell who. New people as well as tags will be added as the story progress so remember to check them regularly.  
> I waiting for your theories and to see how many of you'll predict future events.  
> Oh! And you can try to guess who is under each cloak. I'm curious if it's possible with the clues that I wrote


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